ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how dualistic assumptions shape attitudes that discriminate against persons with mental illnesses and negatively affect their treatments. Stigmatization also seems to affect how well people are able to overcome their mental illnesses. The chapter suggests that a number of factors explain stigma, including the fear of irrational violence, moral judgments, and attributions of responsibility. It describes how dualism fuels attributions of responsibility, which then contribute to the creation of mental illness stigma. In respect to mental illness, dualism promotes an exaggerated sense of free will which encourages attributions of personal responsibility. Educational campaigns address the problem of stigma by emphasizing the biological basis of mental illness. The rationale for this approach is that by establishing a biological cause, people will be less inclined to consider the disorders voluntary. Some investigators surmise that the persistence of stigma is due to the persisting fear of violence.
