Join the Institute for Policy and Social Research for our November 2024 research luncheon! Lunch will be provided. Please email ipsr@ku.edu if you would like to attend. Let us know if you require any accommodations or have any dietary restrictions.

Social Networks and Stigma by Association: Perceived Discrimination Experiences Among the Friends and Family of People with Mental Illness

Liz Felix (Assistant Professor, Sociology)

Receiving a mental illness label or being socially connected to someone who receives a mental illness label is theorized to confer social exclusion and devaluation processes. Stigma scholars, for example, posit that family members of people with mental illness, such as parents or siblings, are at risk of experiencing stigma by association in the form of shame, blame, and contamination. This presentation shares ongoing work that employs egocentric network methods to examine mental health-related associative stigma.

IPSR is a research center supporting social scientists who focus on social problems and policy-relevant questions. Our monthly research luncheons provide a space for affiliated faculty and staff researchers to share their own ongoing work with the KU community.