Cultural differences in stigma surrounding schizophrenia: comparison ă between Central Europe and North Africa

Résumé En

Background ă Exploring cultural differences may improve understanding about the ă social processes underlying the stigmatisation of people with mental ă illness. ă Aims ă To compare public beliefs and attitudes about schizophrenia in Central ă Europe and North Africa. ă Method ă Representative national population surveys conducted in Germany (2011) ă and in Tunisia (2012), using the same interview mode (face to face) and ă the same fully structured interview. ă Results ă In Tunisia, respondents showed a stronger tendency to hold the person ă with schizophrenia responsible for the condition. At the same time they ă expressed more prosocial reactions and less fear than their German ă counterparts. In Germany, the desire for social distance was greater for ă more distant relationships, whereas in Tunisia this was the case for ă close, family-related relationships. ă Conclusions ă Stigma differs between Tunisia and Germany more in form than in ă magnitude. It manifests particularly in those social roles which `matter ă most' to people within a given culture. ă Declaration of interest ă None. ă Copyright and usage ă (C) The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015.