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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
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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.

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

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