Internalized Stigma among Bedouin and Jews with Mental Illness: Comparing Self-Esteem, Hope, and Quality of Life
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Internalized Stigma among Bedouin and Jews with Mental Illness: Comparing Self-Esteem, Hope, and Quality of Life Iris Manor-Binyamini 1 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the differences in internalized-stigma, self-esteem, hope, and quality of life in individuals with mental illness from two diverse cultures (Bedouins and Jews) and to examine the relationships between self-stigma and selfesteem, hope, and quality of life in participants from both cultures. Two hundred participants with mental illness in Israel were assessed on the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale. The Arab Bedouin participants tended to internalize stigma to a greater extent than the Jewish participants. Overall, there was a significant negative correlation between self-stigma, self-esteem, and hope and between alienation and quality of life in both groups although the correlation was stronger among the Arab Bedouin participants. By contrast, the associations between self-stigma and quality of life were only significant for two of the self-stigma dimensions (alienation and discrimination) among the Jewish participants. These results contribute to a better understanding of the role internalized stigma may play in the life of people with mental illness from diverse cultures. They may help design culturally appropriate intervention programs for people with mental illness. Keywords Internalized stigma . Mental illness . Bedouin . Jews . Self-esteem . Hope . Quality of life
Introduction The Bedouin in southern Israel are part of a cross-border tribal society that has lived in the areas now called Jordan, Israel and Sinai (Egypt) [1]. The Bedouin’s traditional livelihood is agriculture and raising livestock. The division of labor between men and women was clear-
* Iris Manor-Binyamini [email protected]
1
Department of Special Education, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave. Mount Carmel, 3498838 Haifa, Israel
Psychiatric Quarterly
cut: men were primarily responsible for safeguarding the land and receiving visitors, whereas women were in charge of farming itself [2]. Thus, men were largely dependent on the decisions and knowledge of their wives as concerned the family’s domestic livelihood. Another distinctive aspect of life in Israel for the Bedouin community is its separate geographic and cultural spaces. While this separation may prove beneficial for the preservation of their special way of life, it can also upend the existing cultural order [3]. The Bedouin society is characterized as a non-Western, traditional, collective society. On the one hand, an individual’s needs, interests, style of thinking, attitudes, beliefs, and values are compatible with those of the family or the tribe. However, the individual’s behavior is shaped according to social norms [4].
Stigma Despite the differences between the two cultures, individuals with mental illness in both cultures experience stigma. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined stigm
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