Scheff

Scheffs Theory of Mental Illness In 1965, Thomas J. Scheff proposed a labeling theory of mental illness in his ground breaking work Being Mentally Ill. It is the epitome of a labeling theory as it incorporates many elements of the labeling perspective. He challenges conventional beliefs about mental illness and proposes a sociological model of mental illness in contrast to the traditionally accepted medical model of mental illness. His theory (a) questions the objective reality of mental illness and puts in its place the conception that mental illness is both a social construction and a social role in society, (b) explores the question of why persons get labeled as mentally ill and concludes they are deviants who violate residual rules, and (c) examines the consequences of being labeled as mentally ill which frequently results in career deviance. He asserts mental illness is not a disease but a social role. Residual deviance rather than mental illness is the reason why people get labeled as mentally ill. Residual deviance is the violation of norms about which consensus is so complete that people regard non-conformity as unnatural and thus a manifestation of mental illness. Being labeled mentally ill then leads to secondary deviance entrenching the unacceptable behavior and launching and locking the individual into a career of deviance. The book is organized into 9 propositions 1. Residual deviance arises from fundamentally diverse sources. 2. Relative to the rate of treated mental illness, the rate of unrecorded residual deviance is extremely high. 3. Most residual deviance is denied and is transitory. 4. Stereotyped imagery of mental disorder is learned in early childhood. 5. The stereotypes of insanity are continually reaffirmed, inadvertently, in ordinary social interactions. 6. Labeled deviants may be rewarded for playing the stereotyped deviant role. 7. Labeled deviants are punished when they attempt to return to the