Mental Health Essay, Research Paper
???? The research
that has been carried out on the consequences of unemployment is
extensive.? Much of this research is
related to the 1930?s and 1980?s when unemployment reached its peak in the
west.?? I aim with this research to
highlight the consequences of unemployment on a person?s mental health.? I would like to analyse the role that work
plays within our lives, as if we are to assess the human consequences of
unemployment, we need to understand the human consequences of employment
also.?? If employment has lost its
meaning for many through alienatation and exploitation in the workplace, then
surely unemployment would become merely an economic issue. ???? Work in a modern society serves many functions in that it
provides outcomes that have the potential to satisfy a number of personal
needs.?? Initially, work is a source of
income and when we look at the classical concept of the economic man, it suggests
that income is the only reason for work and that humans are only motivated to
achieve a better material status1.? As we know this Tayloristc view isn?t true,
otherwise we could assume that people would discontinue working once their
material needs were satisfied.?? The
fact that this alone is true suggests that work plays a more important
function.?? Neff (1968) (cited in1.) states that those who were
vocationally disabled wanted to work to release themselves from boredom and
inactivity therefore work as a form of activity is very important.? Work requires the expenditure of energy in
the form of physical or mental activity.??
In a study carried out by Morse and Weiss (1955) (cited in1) on the reasons for working, 32 per cent
indicated that work kept them occupied and interested, 10 per cent that work
kept them healthy, four per cent that without work they would be bored and
another 10 per cent said they wouldn?t know what to do with all their
time.? It would appear that work is the
main source of activity for humans and that people prefer to be active than
idle. ???? Work acts as a structure to time.? It determines what time people get up, how long they stay away
from the home and what they will spend their time doing.?? Over a longer period, our time is
structured by holidays, weekends and so on, which provides many timetable for
life.?? Loss of work can be said to lead
to ?de-orientation.?? Jahoda?s study in
the 1930?s of an Austrian village called Marienthal, is a perfect example of
how workers became ?de-orientated? with the closure of the only factory in the
village.? The men who had become
unemployed were asked at the end of each day to describe their activities.? They were unable to give any good
description and their days were scheduled by biologically incisive points, such
as eating. ??Other tasks, which could
only have consumed a few minutes, were described as taking up the whole
morning.?? While these men had lots of
free time their women complained that they were never punctual at mealtimes,
highlighting the relevance of a habitual time structure through work (cited in 2.)???? Work is a sourse of creativity and mastery. Hendrick (1943
cited in 1.) suggests that the pleasure gained from
work is due to the fact we have mastery over the ability to change our
environment.? He created a work
principle that states ??primary pleasure is sought by the efficient use of the
nervous system for the performance of well-integrated ego functions which
enable the individual to control or alter his or her environment.?(p.41.)?? Neff (1968 cited in 1.) believes that in some cases people attempt
to satisfy themselves through their work and the needs to be creative.?? Creativity is a form of stimulation
releaving one from boredom and attaining a sense of achievement.? Work creates meaningfulness and without it a
person can suffer from feeling a loss of purpose.???? Social interaction is another aspect of work that is vital to
a person.?? It was discovered by Herberg
et al (1957 cited in? 1.) when reviewing 15 studies, which
involved 28,000 workers, that a major sourse of satisfaction was the social
aspect of the job to the extent it was the most frequently meantioned.???? Finally, work gives people a sourse of identity.? Many people introduce themselves using the
title of their occupation. This is an indicator of a person?s status and is
perhaps is used due to the loss of many traditional forms of identification,
such as religion.?? Unemployment
undermines the individual?s status and in-turn damages a person?s self-esteem
by the fact they become dependent on others or the state for support.? This can often lead to a feeling of failure.???? It appears that work provides a great deal more than just
satisfaction but infact fulfils many deeper needs of our human nature.? The loss of work therfore must have some
form of effect on a person?s mental health. Through the ?Psycho-social
Transition? I aim to show this.???? The Psycho-social Transition is a framework designed to
describe the various stages that people experience during unemployment.?? While it is only a general framework it
attempts to provide a basis from which we can gain a greater understanding of
an individual?s behaviour and psychological state.?? This framework was designed by Hopson and Adams (1976 cited in 1. )?
They describe the experience of unemployment in seven stages (see
Appendix I.)? The first stage is called immobilization.? This is when a person becomes overwhelmed by
an event, in this case unemployment, and is unable to reason or understand what
is happening.? It could be said they are
in a state of shock as they are unable to deal with reality. Hill and Briar
(1977 cited in1) found that on becoming
unemployed some people took a holiday, maybe due to the opportunity to be able
to, but Nutman and Hayes suggests this behaviour is just an attempt to avoid
change and retain self-image, afterall taking a holiday is an act carried out
by most employed people.? It could also
be seen as an effort to escape.???? The second stage of minimization
is where a level of reality is maintained through the pretence that the event
never happened and in turn minimizing the need for change. People tried to
retain their self-image, delaying the acceptance of their situation by
prolonging claiming benefits.? An unemployed
person stated ?I resent the fact that I had to sign on the dole, or become in
me own opinion, a second class citizen.?4. ?The fact that a person delays claiming the
dole is a sign they are avoiding the emminent alteration in their life and they
believe that their situation is only temporary. Jahoda states that even with
redundancy payments or sufficient unemployment allowances, the unemployed do
not enjoy their ?leisure? time and still feel disheartened and of low
self-esteem; as though they are on the scrap heap 3.(p.189.) At this stage of optimism, people still have a strong
belief in finding new employment to the extent that some people create a daily
routine through the process of job seeking and carrying out jobs around the
home.? This was one way in which people
were found to maintain his or her image of a worker afterall ?Work provides for
most people the pattern in which their lives are lived.?5 As more and more rejections are received
the person becomes disheartened and moves from optamism to pessimism. When an individual fails to achieve his or her
expectations they continue to try and find an equilibrium in order to cope,
which involves a change in assumptions and expectations.? This involves cognitive redefinition of
him-herself, the situation and future development of new personal constructs.
Eventually, they become willing to accept change but don?t know how to make
these changes.? A sense of uselessness
and loss of purpose builds up as they fall into depression. People have to accept the reality of their situation
and let go realeasing ??themselves
from the assumptions of their pre-transitional situation.? 1. (p.11.) It is only after this stage
that a person is able to move on and test
out their new ?life space.?? They
attempt to develop new ways of dealing with their present reality and do this
by changing their attitudes and behaviours.?
It is an attempt to create a new framework of understanding and
reference within which one can begin to make sense of the situation of
unemployment.? If a person is successful
is the search for meaning through
their new framework, it can be internalised
as the new basis of their assumptive world which has been affected by the
transition.???? The Psyso-social transition can be said to be limited since it
has not been rigorously tested and Hopson and Adams (1976) recognise its
limitations as they say, ?it is not systematic enough to be called a model, and
not ambitious enough to be called a theory.? 1.(
p.12.) Jahoda also states this and believes it is just the way it must be.3.???? Harrison (1976 cited in 1.)
looked more at the effects of long term unemployment and suggests that there
are only four stages within the transitional cycle; shock, optimism, pessimism
and fatalism.? It is similar to that of
Hopson and Adams in the fact that they both show an increase in self-esteem as
a person moves into the later stages of transition.? Long term adjustment tends to be defined by the acceptance of the
situation and move away from the disabling, depressive states but while their
self-esteem lifts it still remains lower than that of the employed.? Seligman (1975 cited in 1) also looked at the psychological
reactions of the later stages of unemployment and devised the theory of
?Helplessness.?? He believes that
individuals when placed in an uncontrollable situation learn that reacting is
futile and do not respond to take action.?
This interference with the learnt action of response to achieve your
goals produces cognitive distortions leading to anxiety and in turn depression.? For some it can lead to ?learned
helplessness? where even the smallest of obstacles become too difficult to get
past.???? I would now like to discuss the work of Jahoda and others to
continue to strengthen the argument that unemployment has serious negetive
effects on an individuals mental health.?
At the height of the depression in the 1930?s, unemployment in most
industrial countries was well over 20 per cent of the labour force. 50-60
percent were unemployed in the coal-mining communities of South Wales, 2/3 of
people were permanently unemployed in Jarrow, and those miners over the age of
45 were resigned to never finding work again 6..? This highlights the drastic situation that
many people were faced with.? If we turn
to Maslow (1958 cited in 6.) we can
see through his hierarchy of needs the effect unemployment can have on an
invidual.? He stated that our basic
needs require shelter and food to be fulfilled but even this was difficult in
the povery of unemployment in the 1930?s preventing people from moving towards
their higher order needs.???? In 1929, the only factory in the Austrian village of
Marienthal closed down, leading to mass unemployment.? An investigation was undertaken by Jahoda to see what effect it
had2.. People initially reacted with shock to
the onset of unemployment.? Women
panicked about household management.?
Some fell into debt even though they managed to live on a reduced income
later and many voluntary organisations and clubs closed their doors.? After the initial shock, there was actually
a slight recovery when they began to manage, but as economic hardship continued
to worsen this adaption became threatened 6.. ??? Jahoda states that modern industrialised societies shape the
experience of time through public institutions such as the school system, which
from the early days of childhood sets us to the rhythm of work.? It impresses the value of punctuality and
the need to fill the day with activity, which employment offers through a fixed
time schedule. When this is removed people feel a great psychological burden
upon themselves. Even with all this spare time, the men in Marienthal were
still unpunctual, while the effect on women was far lower as they consumed
their days with household tasks.? For
unemployed men their working day was reduced to 13 ½? hours since sleeping kept them warm, made them forget their
problems and saved their clothes.? They
idled away their time and similar to the Bakke study in Greenwich 6. they would spend a great deal of time
on the streets just waiting for something to happen and participating in very
little conversation.? We can conclude
from this then that time structure is a vital aspect of life. ???? One of the major differences in the 1980?s was the improvement
in material circumstances but another dramatic change was that of the education
levels of the population as a whole.?
The addition of two extra compulsory years at school increased the
knowledge of the population and was found to heighten the aspirations of
individuals6..? It could be argued then that unemployment
could be more difficult to cope with now as it frustrates high hopes.? During the 1930?s the television had not
been heard of either.? Social scientists
have investigated the impact of this introduction of the television into our
homes.? Advertising and the display of a
comfortable middle class life mediated through the television, is far more
powerful than the written or spoken word and affect the material aspirations of
people far more6.? While they are only experiencing relative
deprivation, the experience of trying to ?keep up appearances? is
psychologically distressing.? Todays
work is often said to be a source of achieving material wealth, especially as
consumerism often defines our status and is no longer based around the
Protestant Work Ethic that defined work as morally good and was the creator of
moral norms.? ????? I now want to look at research carried out on different
groups within the unemployed especially youth unemployment.? Banks and Jackson (1982 cited in 7.) carried out one of the
best-known studies of young people.? The
study was only of those who had two O?Levels or the equivalent.? The study questioned 647 students who had
just left school in 1978 and 1096 students just before they left school in 1979
and followed both groups up with a yearly interview followed by another after
18 months.? The results showed that
those that were still at school had the most dramatic score in the health
questionaire (form 11.36 to 13.55) but a significant decrease in those who
gained jobs (10.61 ? 8.41.)? Warr7.suggests that
this could be linked to the anxiety felt about entering the labour market at a
time where there was increasing unemployment and deepening recession. Jahoda
believed this age group was most affected by unemployement (16-19yrs) which is
worrying since these are the people whose skills, motivation and outlook on
life shape the future of business.?
While school and the apirations of their families may have instilled in
them many hopes and dreams, when faced with the situation of unemployment all
their ambitions are often lost.? Dan van
der Vat (1981 cited in 6.)
discovered through conversations with young people that many had lost their
will to work and their abiltiy to live within an adult society.? Based on a survey of 1000 interviews with
young people who had visited the London Central YMCA, one in four of unemployed
16-25 year olds had contmplated suicide 8..? Jahoda believes they are the most affect due
to the loss of time structure leading to boredom and not knowing what to do
with so much time.? Unemployed women on
the other hand are probably the least affected because they structure their
time through domestic chores but what effects them most is the loss of social
contacts.? For unemployed managers the
loss of status is often the most pressing issue.? As we can see the process of unemployment is not experienced the
same by everyone.??? While unemployment may be damaging to our mental health, it is
often argued that poor employment situations can also detiorate our mental
health and I would like to explore which of these is better, employment or
unemployment? Appendix 1 is an example of just how relevant this issue is as it
shows that people who are overworked becoming mentally ill. Kornhauser (1965
cited in 3.) in his study of mental
health within the workforce discovered that mental health varied with the level
of skill. Those with the lowest skills were the most mentally ill.? In most surveys about five per cent of
people report an improvement in their mental health because they have escaped
from miserable job and others because they have found positive aspects of
unemployment 10. A survey carried out by
Jackson and Warr (cited in 9) on 954
men who had been unemployed on average for five months, found that while the
largest percentage of people experienced pooer mental health, eight per cent
actually said that their mental health had improved since becoming unemployed.
A study by Colledge and Bartholomew in 1968 looking at long term unemployment
found just under 2/3 of men described their health as excellent or good and
only nine per cent stated their health was poor due to unemployment (cited in 9.)???? On the other hand, Brenner (1976 cited in 3) saw that when unemployment rates were
high so were social apathy indicators and stated that the negetive consequences
of unemployment were far worse than those of employment.? While work can be argued as alienating and
exploitative, a Dutch study by Hofstede (1979 cited in 3) concluded that the humanization of work
is only demanded by the intectual elite and not by alienated workers therfore
work is not necessarily as threatening to mental health as some may claim.?? Afterall, work fulfils the Latent Functions
defined by Jahoda 3 of
imposing a time structure, the sharing of experiences and contact with others
outside of the immediate family, employment enables people to link themselves
to individual goals and purposes that transend their own, it structures their
personal identity and status and finally, it enforces activity.? These Latent Functions echo strongly back to
the ideas I put forward earlier about the functions of work.? Even Freud (1930 cited in 9.) stated work was a person?s strongest
tie to reality and therefore it would seem, in general, that unemployment
affects mental health far more than employment ever has.???? Over the past century there has been a
numrous studies undertaken to try and discover the effects of unemployment but
there is no real theory to bind the research and knowledge regarding this area
together, and so there is often quite a gap between the theory and the
research.? While unemployment rates rise
in industrialised countries with the international division of labour leading
to fewer jobs in the western world, especially when to survive economically
organisations replace jobs with technology, it is important that we look at the
consequences that such increases in unemployment could have.? While work may have become more alienating
and exploitative, the consequences on mental health? for the unemployed is still as drastic as it ever was and far
worse then than being within employment.?
Unemployment today doesn?t necessarily lead to deep poverty like it did
in the depression of the 1930?s but the psychological consequences remain the
same if not worse by the pressure placed on people within a consumer society
with higher standards of living.? While
the working environment of the 1930?s was much different to that of the 1980?s
and? today, I hope, I have highlighted
the severe negetive consequences of unemployment on mental health through the
use of theory and knowledge to gain a greater understanding of the experience
of life without work. Endnotes1. Haye J & Nutman P ? Understanding the Unemployed ? The
Psychological Effects of Unemployment?? ?????? (1981) Tavistock. 2. Fryer D & Ullah P ? Unemployed People: Social and Psycholgical
Perspectives (1987) Open University ??????
Press. 3.? Jahoda M – Work, Employment,
and Unemployment (1981) American Psycholgist, 36, 2. 4. Tv Eye ? 5th June 1980 ? Thames Television cited in 1 5. Pilgrim Trust 1968 cited in 1. (p.23.) 6. Jahoda M ? Employment and Unemployment (1982) Camberidge University
Press7.? Warr P ? Comparison between
employed and unemployed: twelve questions about unemployment and health in
Roberts, R, Finnegan, R, Gaille, D eds. ? New approaches to economic life
(1985) Manchester University Press. 8. Balloch S, Hume C, Jones B, and Westland P ? Caring for unemployed
people (1985) Bedford Sqaure Press.9. Smith R ? Unemployment and Health (1987) Oxford University Press10. Fryer D & Payne R ? Proactive behaviour in unemployment;
findings and implications. Leisure studies???
1984; 3: 273-95 cited in 9. ? BibliographyBalloch S, Hume C, Jones B, and Westland P ? Caring for Unemployed
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about ??????????????? unemployment and
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