01547nas a2200169   4500000000100000008004100001653001100042653001800053100001100071700001400082700001200096700001400108245008400122300001400206490000700220520115000227       1987                            d10aStigma10aMental Health1 aLink B1 aCullen FT1 aFrank J1 aWozniak J00aThe Social Rejection of Former Mental Patients: Understanding Why Labels Matter  a1461-15000 v923 aRecent research shows that the crucial factor determining the rejection of former mental patients is their behavior rather than their stigmantized status. The study reported here, based on a vignette experiment (with a design that varies patient status with the nature of behavior), challenges this conclusion. Like previous research, it indicates that a simple assessment of labelings shows little effect on a social distance scale. However, when a measure of perceived dangerousness of mental patients is introduced, strong labeling effects emerge. Specifically, the data reveal that the lable of "previous hospitalization" fosters high social distance among those who perceive mental patients to be dangerous and low social distance among those who do not see patients as a threat. It appears that past investigators have missed these effects because they have averaged excessively lenient responses with excessively rejecting ones. This suggests that labels play an important role in how former mental patients are perceived and that labeling theory should not be dismissed as a framework for understanding social factors in mental illness.