IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v102y2019icp27-33.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How previously detained youths perceive “mental health” and “counseling”

Author

Listed:
  • Brown, James R.
  • Holloway, Evan D.
  • Maurer, Erica
  • Bruno, David G.
  • Ashirifi, Gifty D.
  • Aalsma, Matthew C.

Abstract

This study explored previously detained youths' perceptions of the term “mental health” and related stigma. The study also examined how the youth see and compare “mental health” to “counseling” services. Qualitative interviews were conducted with an ethnically diverse, purposeful sample of 19 youth aged 11–17 who scored high on the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI-2) for mental health disorders. Our findings suggest that participants often found it difficult to disclose that they were receiving mental health services to non-primary friends. Overall, there were negative and inaccurate perceptions of mental health. Furthermore, this terminology was not easily understood and was associated with mental health stigma. Given this negative association with “mental health,” our results suggest that this term could represent, in and of itself, a significant barrier to accessing treatment that requires further investigation. These findings should prompt researchers, policy makers, and mental health professionals to evaluate alternative names or descriptions of mental health services to reduce both internal and external stigma.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, James R. & Holloway, Evan D. & Maurer, Erica & Bruno, David G. & Ashirifi, Gifty D. & Aalsma, Matthew C., 2019. "How previously detained youths perceive “mental health” and “counseling”," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 27-33.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:102:y:2019:i:c:p:27-33
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.03.030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074091830940X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.03.030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:102:y:2019:i:c:p:27-33. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.