Abstract

Mental disorders are a significant source of medical and occupational morbidity for active duty military members. The majority of military personnel believe that using mental health services will cause career harm, and over 81% of those with mental health problems do not seek treatment. The literature suggests that stigma and fear of negative career impact are significant barriers to the use of mental health services. Military members have indicated that concern about leaders' attitudes is a barrier to seeking help. The attitude of military leaders is important because those leaders have authority over both subordinates' careers and their access to mental health services. Military culture and leaders' perceptions of mental illness are potential sources of organizational norms regarding mental health service use. This study used semistructured interviews and military policies as data sources to analyze the language, knowledge, and attitudes of Navy surface fleet leaders about mental illness and mental health treatment using Foucault's concept of discourse analysis.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3149171; ProQuest document ID: 305107669. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Richard J. Westphal, PhD

Sigma Membership

Beta Kappa

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Mental Health, Military Social Dynamics, Social Stigma

Advisor

Emily J. Havenstein

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

University of Virginia

Degree Year

2004

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2019-05-15

Full Text of Presentation

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