The Role of Group Identity on the Community Integration of People With Severe Mental Disorder

Community integration, which includes physical integration (e.g. participation in activities, as well as use of goods and services in the community in a self-initiated manner), social integration (e.g. quantity and quality of social relationships) and psychological integration (e.g. perception of belongingness to the community), is a necessary element to achieve personal recovery among people with severe mental disorder (SMD).

Group identification, based on Social Identity Theory, emphasizes an individual's definition of who they are in relation to their group membership. When individuals have a strong tendency to define their self-concept in terms of the group they belong to and uphold the values of their group, they are said to have high identification with the group. Group value, on the other hand, refers to the evaluative judgment of one's social group, which reflects the extent to which individuals feel positively or negatively toward their ingroup, and people who have positive perceptions toward their group are more strongly identified with it.

Self-dehumanization is the process by which people dehumanize themselves. This can happen in two ways: when they perceiving themselves as unintelligent, amoral, irrational, wild, etc.; thus perceived as animal-like, it is called animalistic dehumanization; or when they perceive themselves as lacking emotion, warmth, vitality, etc.; perceived as object-like, which is referred to as mechanistic dehumanization.

Self-stigma occurs when people accept the negative stereotypes about their in-group apply to themselves. This has shown to influence the community integration of people with SMD.

Empowerment is understood as the process by which people, organizations and communities acquire control over their own lives. People with SMD who endorsed higher group value were more likely to be involved in educating the public about mental health and helping others with mental disorder, which are considered a behavioral manifestation of empowerment.