| This dissertation explores the experience of stigma of Navajo families within the context of their current socio-cultural environment to capture the lived experiences of individual family members. The author explores the central issue of family stigmatization surrounding mental illness and poses this question: "What is the experience of stigma for a Navajo family which has a member with severe mental illness?";The research design includes studying six Navajo families living with a severe mentally ill relative, and three Navajo informants on the Northern Navajo Indian reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico. Strategies used in collecting and analyzing the data include open-ended, in-depth family interviews, a demographic survey, use of field notes, and conducting a focus-group interview. The focus group was used to verify and/or challenge the researcher's observational accounts of the phenomenon. Each family completed a demographic survey prior to the open-ended interview. The open-ended interviews consisted of the central research question and nine sub-questions. The raw data was transcribed verbatim for each family interview and for each follow-up interview.;These transcriptions were subjected to a phenomenological methodological analysis developed by Stevick (1971), Colaizzi (1973), Keen (1975), and modified by Moustakas (1994). Four major core themes developed as a result of this study. They are: (a) cultural values and beliefs about mental health and illness, (b) public views of mental illness, (c) impact of institutional racism, and (d) the impact of stigma within the profession and on social relationships.;The results of this study will have implications in social work research, practice, education, and policy. |
