Social Correlates of Competitive Employment Among People with Severe Mental Illness

Observations derived from three ethnographic studies address important questions concerning characteristics of clients' sociocultural backgrounds. Knowledgeable use of the latter enhance the effectiveness of efforts to secure and support competitive employment for those with severe mental illne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatric rehabilitation journal 1998, Vol.22 (1), p.34-40
Main Authors: Alverson, Hoyt, Alverson, Marianne, Drake, Robert E, Becker, Deborah R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Employment Status
Ethnography
Human
Mental Disorders
Occupational Success
Psychiatric Patients
Psychiatry
Serious Mental Illness
Social psychology
Sociocultural Factors
Socioeconomic factors
Vocational Rehabilitation
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Summary:Observations derived from three ethnographic studies address important questions concerning characteristics of clients' sociocultural backgrounds. Knowledgeable use of the latter enhance the effectiveness of efforts to secure and support competitive employment for those with severe mental illness. Data from three ethnographies were recast as short profile sketches in summated rating scales. Rank correlations between scale sums and study participants' propensity to look for and/or to obtain competitive employment proved highly significant in three small but very different, samples of clients. The correlatives of work search or retention are: 1) valuing and hoping for maintenance of one's mental and physical functioning with professional help; 2) belonging to, and actively participating in, functional social groupings: family, friendship networks, gangs, voluntary associations, or the workplace itself, and 3) the absence of unrelenting dire poverty.
ISSN:1095-158X
1559-3126
DOI:10.1037/h0095268