Social Tolerance of the Mentally Ill in the Mexican American Community

Abstract

This work is a comparative study of social tolerance toward mental illness. The central concern is with the orientation of the Chicano toward these phenomena. The aim is to determine whether or not attitudes that Mexican Americans hold toward mental illness differ from those of other Americans. Survey research methods are used to conduct a comparative study of two ethnically distinct groups — Anglo and Mexican American. Attitudes toward mental illness are measured by a social distance scale. High to low tolerance toward the mentally ill is measured. The questions range from close personal to more distant association, such as whether or not one would mind having his or her children marry someone considered to be mentally ill, to whether or not one would mind working with such a person. We have found that sex, age and education are the primary variables associated with attitudes towards mental illness. Better educated Chicanos are clearly more tolerant of the mentally disabled than the little schooled. The gender of the res pondents also appears significant in determining the extent of their tolerance. Older Chicanas with less education are the least tolerant of the mentally ill, while younger women are more tolerant than the older. And the Chicano tends to be tolerant whatever his educational level. There is little difference in tolerance between Chicanos and Anglos.