Abstract:
The portrayal of schizophrenic individuals in popular media films was investigated. Ten films were evaluated using the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia current at the time each film was released. General notes were also kept about each film to attempt to determine if schizophrenic individuals were portrayed negatively and whether they were shown as being hospitalized for their illness at any point in the film. The hypotheses to be examined stated that the films would portray the individuals in each film with differential accuracy and that the early films would portray the mentally ill characters more negatively and show them more frequently in mental hospitals. The results indicated that overall the films accurately portrayed the schizophrenic individuals according to the diagnostic criteria. The findings did not support the hypotheses, but did show that popular media does not portray schizophrenic individuals stereotypically.
