The social classes of people suffering from mental health problems are among the primary determinants of treatment they receive from psychiatrists. The problem is further exacerbated by affording the mentally challenged, first-class, highly educated, affluent, and professional members of the population gentler and mindful treatment methods. Conversely, people from the low class are given any available form of psychotherapy. These practices prove that there exists an inverse relationship between social class and mental health management. The problem also has a gender aspect in which mental health epidemiology in women from lower and first-class populations differs significantly. According to Bartoll-Roca, and Julià (2021) , women from low economic and academic backgrounds are more exposed to mental health problems than the rest. Introducing this aspect into the study widens the scope of focus areas in determining the relationship between mental health and social class.
The link between socials class and mental health stigma is another exciting aspect of the subject despite the little attention this area has received among researchers. At the same time, the mental literacy concept has increasingly gained popularity when framing understanding and knowledge, mental health problems. The social attitude surveys offer in-depth information on how to unpack the link between social class and these concepts, thus establishing the mental health inequalities. Available related data suggest that the outcome of surveys aimed at addressing the problem is that the social class variables are more likely to show a stronger relationship to the mental health problems than its associated stigma ( Castro Blanco and Díaz, 2019). The survey can be split into sections to measure the relationship between mental health and the various aspects of social class, such as wealth, education levels, and careers. The findings from such a survey would prove helpful in developing health promotion programs and increasing the services appropriately to reduce the disparities. This research seeks to ascertain the relationship between social class and the prevalence and treatment of mental health problems.
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Education and income are also among the most crucial indicators of social class, hence their importance in this research. McEvoy et al. (2021) support the above argument by positing that individuals from wealthy backgrounds and high education levels are always offered better health services than the rest of the population. It is, therefore, justifiable to claim that encouraging education can significantly solve the mental health social class disparity problem. However, it is also essential to explore the subject from the opposite perspective. For example, it would be prudent to determine whether having high education and failing and lacking wealth creation opportunities contribute to mental illnesses. The main reason for recommending the above approach is the lack of adequate research to prove that all people with better academic backgrounds and wealth and vice versa.
On the other hand, sufficient research demonstrates that not all educated individuals are wealthy. Furthermore, not all uneducated people are poor, hence the need to further explore its link to mental health treatment disparities (Rubin et al.,2019). Overall, education and income prove to be the most critical element determining the relationship between social class and mental health problems, hence their importance to this research.
Theoretical Perspective
Since several social aspects yield different results in establishing the relationship between social class and mental health, this research narrows them down to education, wealth, and professional levels. The approach aims at establishing the level of mental health treatments that individuals suffering from the condition receive based on their levels of education, wealth, and professions. The choice of these aspects, among several others, is based on the research that cites them as the leading areas of social class elements that show significant disparities in mental health management ( Rubin and Stuart, 2018). The education perspective is crucial to this study because it offers an insight into how education can improve the social disparities in mental health treatment. The same applies to the wealth aspect, which can be used to answer whether enhancing the economic conditions of the population can improve the mental health prevalence rates. Finally, incorporating the career variable seals the research gap on the most at-risk mental health professions or careers.
Research Methods
Unit of Analysis
The issues that will be analyzed include the mental health data and related literature published within the past six years. Among the areas covered are the mental health prevalence and treatment methods across people from different social classes regarding the level of education, wealth, and profession. The primary purpose of selecting these variables is that adequate data is showing their respective disparities. Therefore, it would be interesting to compare the findings from various sources to ascertain the accuracy of the available information, identify research gaps, and make appropriate recommendations.
Sampling
I will make a random sampling of data gathered from different sources, beginning with the oldest to the latest in terms of year of publication, to determine whether there have been any significant changes and ascertain the rate of change. I intend to support or refute the findings from the available research by performing a survey of people from different educational backgrounds, wealth statuses, and careers. The study shall target at least five people from each of the categories mentioned above of individuals. The population shall be divided equally based on gender and age group to determine any relationship between the two to social class and mental health. The information shall help gain an insight into whether the problem has age or gender-based elements.
I will also use controlled interviews with the professionals and affected individuals from various social groups. The method aims to gain first-hand information on how these individuals have been treated in the past for their mental health problems. The data gathered through this method shall also be considered more accurate and reported in qualitative raw data. The information shall also be compared to those gained from existing literature or survey to assess their accuracy and any changes that might have occurred over time. The other reason for the focus on the three variables is their role in determining the living standards. According to Rubin and Stuart (2018), education, wealth status, and profession are among the most significant contributors to mental. There is a general perception that the affluent are more unlikely to develop mental illnesses; however, there is little research on whether excess wealth and the desire to amass more can cause mental health problems. The latter is among the primary reasons for including the wealth status aspect in the study.
Manifest Coding
To fulfill the quantitative aspect of the research, I will look into the statistical information on the prevalence rates of mental health conditions across a population of different wealth status, education levels, and professions across diverse age groups and gender. Then, I will compare this information against another to determine the relationship between the two variables. Finally, the percentage differences shall be used to determine the prevalence rates and make appropriate recommendations.
Wealth Status . The variable shall be coded for the ratio between the number of hours' wealthy individuals are offered in terms of treating the mental health condition against those provided to the fewer affluence populations. For example, how many hours of treatment focus are provided to people with solid financial backgrounds to the poor people suffering from the same problem.
The Level of Education and Profession . The variables shall be coded for the number of hours the most educated and professionals suffering from mental health conditions spend getting treatment compared to those of the undedicated and unprofessional population. A controlled survey shall of the phenomenon be done through case studies of two individuals representing each of the categories mentioned above from a mental health institution.
Latent Coding
The approach shall be geared towards helping the research achieve its qualitative objectives. I will be looking for the following aspects; disparities in mental health between wealthy and poor people. The same approach shall be made to cover the level of education and professional variables of the research.
Disparities in Mental Health Between Wealthy and Poor People . The aspect will be coded for the number of mental health cases reported among the wealthy and needy members of the population. The above methods shall be applied to code the disparities in terms of the level of education and the professions of the target populations.
Budget/Timeline
Below is recommended budget for the entire research process.
Description of the Cost |
Amount ($) |
| The payment for the online library containing studies on the relationship between mental health and social class. The number of sources required for the research is five; however, I will pay for ten, from which I will choose the most relevant and current for inclusion into the study. Each of the sources is expected to cost $20 | 200 |
| The cost of recruiting the target population is also equally important to this budget. Among the areas that would attract expenditure include transport from the target locations. Refreshments for the people offering information from other places other than the comfort of their homes such as hotels and restaurants. | 700 |
| Data gathering, compiling, and analysis using the assistance of the professionals within the sector and other outsourced data analysis software services. | 400 |
| Communication requirements during the research shall also attract some costs. Therefore, I intend to assign at least 30 minutes of telephone conversation with each of the target respondents split between seeking consent and follow-up. | 150 |
| Total Cost | 1450 |
The approximate timeline for completing the research is six months.
January. Gathering information and literature from the relevant individuals and online library databases, respectively.
February to March: Compiling the literature and information gathered in January in readiness for the in-depth selection of the most relevant ones and analysis. During this period, I hope to receive all the requested information from the appropriate sources, such as people from different social groups that are concerned about the disparities in the treatment of their mental health conditions.
April to June: The period shall be characterized by analyzing the information gathered and gleaning all the relevant data contained. During this time, I intend to compare the data from different literature to determine their similarities. The above approach is aimed at ensuring that the data used is authentic and verifiable.
July: The periods shall be marked with proofreading and presentation of the final research findings. The word document shall also be converted into pdf file. I also expect that I shall have covered the total number of pages required for this research. Data coding shall also be done at this stage, and the final report presented to the professor.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the social classes of people suffering from mental health problems are among the primary determinants of treatment they receive from psychiatrists. The problem is further exacerbated by affording the mentally challenged, first-class, highly educated, affluent, and professional members of the population gentler and mindful treatment methods. The link between socials class and mental health stigma is another exciting aspect of the subject despite the little attention this area has received among researchers. At the same time, the mental literacy concept has increasingly gained popularity when framing understanding and knowledge, mental health problems. Education and income are also among the most crucial indicators of social class, hence their importance in this research. Since several social aspects yield different results in establishing the relationship between social class and mental health, this research narrows them down to education, wealth, and professional levels. The issues that will be analyzed include the mental health data and related literature published within the past six years. I will make a random sampling of data gathered from different sources, beginning with the oldest to the latest, to determine whether there have been any significant changes and ascertain the rate of change. To fulfill the quantitative aspect of the research, I will look into the statistical information on the prevalence rates of mental health conditions across a population of different wealth status, education levels, and professions across diverse age groups and gender. The research is expected to be complete by July 2021, and the total budget for the study shall be $1450.
References
Bartoll-Roca, X., & Julià, A. (2021). Empirically revisiting a social class scheme for mental health in Barcelona, Spain. International Journal of Social Economics .
Castro Blanco, L., & Díaz Jérez, E. (2019). Mental health, social class and gender in contemporary society.
McEvoy, C., Clarke, V., & Thomas, Z. (2021). 'Rarely discussed but always present': Exploring therapists' accounts of the relationship between social class, mental health, and therapy. Counseling and Psychotherapy Research , 21 (2), 324-334.
Rubin, M., & Stuart, R. (2018). Kill or cure? Different types of social class identification amplify and buffer the relation between social class and mental health. The Journal of social psychology , 158 (2), 236-251.
Rubin, M., Evans, O., & McGuffog, R. (2019). Social class differences in social integration at university: Implications for academic outcomes and mental health. In The social psychology of inequality (pp. 87-102). Springer, Cham.
