Social structure and the ecological distribution of mental illness, suicide, and delinquency

Abstract

SUMMARYData on serious psychiatric illness (900 cases), suicide (150 cases), indictable crime (1,300 cases), and child welfare problems (800 cases) in individuals living in Brighton have been collected. Rates of these behavioural pathologies have been calculated for 19 wards in the city, and correlated with data collected in the 1966 Census. Results show that the behavioural pathologies are strongly intercorrelated and are associated with in-migrant areas containing rooming houses of poor quality. These areas tend to be in the city centre. Rates of psychiatric illness, including diagnostic groups in different age and sex groups, have been calculated for 110 enumeration districts in the city, and these rates correlated with factor scores from the principal components analysis of 53 census variables. Complex patterning of the data has been demonstrated. The identification of small areas in the city with high rates of behavioural pathology in particular social settings is an important precursor of the establishment of special measures for prevention and treatment. An important area for future research is the establishment of causal patterns, and the investigation of the primary or secondary role of social conditions in the emergence of mental illness and other behavioural pathology.

The stability of the ecological distribution of the incidence of treated mental disorders in the city of Mannheim

“…Separate evaluation of affective psychoses and neurotic depression is recommended. In contrast to our results, Bagley et al (1973) reported strong ecological correlations in Brighton between affective psychoses and depression as well as with other psychiatric diagnoses.…”

Schizophrenia in Nottingham: Lifelong Residential Mobility of a Cohort

“…A number of factors have been implicated as environmental precipitants, if not causes, of schizo phrenia. These include social isolation (Jaco, 1954), lack of control over living environment including both isolation and overcrowding (Magaziner, 1988;Lomas et a!, 1973) and various indices of low socio economic status (Bagley et a!, 1973;Dohrenwend, 1990). Such ideas emphasise the experience of deprived inner-city living, both in terms of psycho logical stressors and general poor physical health, rather than individual genetics, to explain the over representation of people who will, at some point, develop schizophrenia in this type of urban setting.…”

The geography of mental health

“…These studies focused upon the relationship between mental illness and the urban environment, with particular attention to the spatial distribution of mental illness in different social areas of these cities. Some consistent findings of these studies have included: a concentration of people with schizophrenia in inner-city areas (Giggs, 1973;Dean & James, 1981); a more random distribution of people with manic depression (Dean & James, 1984;Taylor, 1974); and a correlation of incidence of particular disorders with social factors such as suicide and delinquency (Bagley et al, 1973;Bagley & Jacobson, 1976). These examples of ecological studies of mental illness demonstrate the spatial variability of mental illness, particularly within an individual city.…”