Hostname: page-component-5d84bcc8dc-6bbr8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-09-09T02:14:35.668Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Smoking, Stigma and Human Rights in Mental Health: Going up in Smoke?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

Joanne Warner
Joanne Warner*
Affiliation:
School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent E-mail: j.warner@kent.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Debates about the ban on smoking in public places have centred on the right to self-determination and privacy versus the right to health. This paper addresses the issue of smoking in relation to mental health and focuses on the right to dignity and respect. The public health agenda on smoking has involved the mobilisation of stigma to persuade people to give up. The paper argues that this strategy risks adding to the stigma and process of ‘othering’ that many mental health service users already experience and is also likely to be ineffective in reducing smoking rates, particularly among heavy smokers.

Information

Type
Themed Section on Mental Health and Human Rights
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , April 2009 , pp. 275 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Arnone, D. and Simmons, L. J. (2007), ‘Smoke-free mental health units’, British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 449–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayer, R. and Stuber, J. (2006), ‘Tobacco control, stigma, and public health: rethinking the relations’, Health Policy and Ethics, 96, 1, 47–50.Google Scholar
Britton, J. and Edwards, R. (2008), ‘Tobacco smoking, harm reduction, and nicotine product regulation’, The Lancet, 371, 441–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bronisch, T., Höfler, M. and Lieb, R. (2008), ‘Smoking predicts suicidality: findings from a prospective community study’, Journal of Affective Disorders, 108, 135–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Department of Health Statistical Bulletin (2003), Statistics on Smoking: England, National Statistics/Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (2007) Human Rights in Healthcare – A Framework for Local Action, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Department of Health (2008), Letter to Chief Executives of Mental Health Trusts and Independent Mental Health Care Providers: Chief Executives of Strategic Health Authorities (DH Gateway reference number: 9823) with Annex, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division Administrative Court) (2008), Neutral Citation Number: [2008] EWHC 1096 (Admin).Google Scholar
Farrimond, H. R. and Joffe, H. (2006), ‘Pollution, peril and poverty: a British study of the stigmatization of smokers’, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 16, 6, 481–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joukamaa, M., Heliövaara, M., Knekt, P., Aromaa, A., Raitasalo, R. and Lehtinen, V. (2001), ‘Mental disorders and cause-specific mortality’, British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 498–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jochelson, K. (2006), ‘Smoke-free legislation and mental health units: the challenges ahead’, British Journal of Psychiatry, 189, 479–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jochelson, K. and Majrowski, B. (2006), Clearing the Air: Debating Smoke-free Policies in Psychiatric Units, London: King's Fund.Google Scholar
Kozlowski, L. T. and Edwards, B. Q. (2005), ‘“Not safe” is not enough: smokers have a right to know more than there is no safe tobacco product’, Tobacco Control, 14, II, ii3–ii7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Largey, G. P. and Watson, D. R. (1972), ‘The sociology of odors’, The American Journal of Sociology, 77, 6, 1021–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Layte, R. and Whelan, C. T. (2008), ‘Explaining social class inequalities in smoking: the role of education, self-efficacy, and deprivation’, European Sociological Review Advance, 25 March 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Louka, P., Maguire, M., Evans, P. and Worrell, M. (2006), ‘“I think it's a pain in the ass that I have to stand outside in the cold and have a cigarette”: representations of smoking and experiences of disapproval in UK and Greek smokers’, Journal of Health Psychology, 11, 3, 441–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeill, A. (2004), Smoking and Patients with Mental Health Problems, London: Health Development Agency.Google Scholar
McNeill, A. and Owen, L. (2005), Guidance for Smokefree Hospital Trusts, London: Health Development Agency.Google Scholar
Mann, J. M., Gostin, L., Gruskin, S., Brennan, T., Lazzarini, Z. and Fineberg, H. V. (1994), ‘Health and human rights’, Health and Human Rights, 1, 1, 6–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mental Health Act Commission (2005), The Mental Health Act Commission: In Place of Fear? Eleventh Biennial Report 2003–2005, London: TSO.Google Scholar
Mental Health Act Commission (2006, updated 2007), Strategy on Equality and Human Rights, http://www.mhac.org.uk (accessed 7 August 2008)Google Scholar
Mental Health Act Commission (2008), The Mental health Act Commission: Rights, Risk, Recovery Twelfth Biennial Report 2005–2007, London: TSO.Google Scholar
Pilgrim, D. and Rogers, A. (2005), A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness: Third Edition, Berkshire: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Prochaska, J. J., Gill, P. and Hall, S. M. (2004), ‘Treatment of tobacco use in an inpatient psychiatric setting’, Psychiatric Services, 55, 11, 1265–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratschen, E., Britton, J. and McNeill, A. (2008), ‘Smoke-free hospitals – the English experience: results from a survey, interviews and site visits’, BMC Health Services Research, 8: 41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogers, A. and Pilgrim, D. (2003), Mental Health and Inequality, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sayer, A. (2005), ‘Class, moral worth and recognition’, Sociology, 39, 5, 947–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, J. and O'Callaghan, C. (2008), ‘Exploration of in-patient attitudes towards smoking within a large mental health trust’, Psychiatric Bulletin, 32, 166–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sweanor, D., Alcabes, P. and Drucker, E. (2007), ‘Tobacco harm reduction: how rational public policy could transform a pandemic’, International Journal of Drug Policy, 18, 70–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilkinson, J. (1998), ‘Danger on the streets: mental illness, community care and ingratitude’, in Symonds, A. and Kelly, A. (eds.), The Social Construction of Community Care, Basingstoke: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Williams, A. (2007), ‘Smoke-free mental health units’, British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 449–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed