Unemployment and mental health: A critical review

doi:10.1016/0277-9536(93)90316-V

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 37, Issue 1, July 1993, Pages 41-52

https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(93)90316-V Get rights and content

Abstract

Existing theoretical explanations of the mental health consequences of unemployment are outlined, critically reviewed and an alternative theory proposed. Theories reviewed include the rehabilitation approach, the stages model, Jahoda's functional model, Warr's vitamin model and Fryer's agency critique. A discussion of the effects of moderating variables—including the quality of work, work commitment and age—is used to assess the usefulness of these theoretical explanations. Most theories are found to deal inadequately with the temporal aspects of unemployment, the relationship between subjective experience and objective location and the complexity of the effects of moderating variables. In response to these inadequacies and in contrast to the predominant empiricist, psychological orientation, a middle range theory is proposed informed by a sociological perspective. The proposed theory conceptualises unemployment as a type of status passage and suggests an explanation of changes in mental health derived from identity theory.

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Unemployment and mental health: A critical review

Abstract

Soc. Sci. Med.

Hum. Relations

Studies in Ethnomethodology

Marienthal, The Sociography of an Unemployed Community

The Unemployed Man.

The Unemployed Man and His Family

Unemployment, reemployment, and emotional functioning in a community sample

Am. Soc. Rev.

Health Consequences of Employment and Unemployment

Unemployment

Killing Time, Losing Ground Experiences of Unemployment

Workless

Stuck! Unemployed People Talk to Michele Turner

Work, Unemployment and Mental Health

The Psychological Impact of Unemployment

Psychology of Work and Unemployment

White Collar Unemployment, Impact and Stress

Being Unemployed: A Review of the Literature on the Psychological Experience of Unemployment

The psychology of unemployment: a critical appraisal

Psychological effects of unemployment: A consideration of some Alternative Explanations

Aus. N.Z. J. Psychiat.

The psychological effects of unemployment

Psychol. Bull.

Whither research on unemployment?

A longitudinal analysis of the effects of different patterns of employment and unemployment on school leavers

Br. J. Psychol.

Economic recession and mental health: some conceptual issues

J. soc. Issues

Unemployment, Its Social Psychological Effects

Work, employment and unemployment: values, theories, and approaches in social research

Am. Psychol.

The Sociological Imagination

Social Theory Social Structure

The Unemployed, A Social Psychological Portrait

The historical dimension of social psychology: the case of unemployment

Moderating factors of the psychological impact of unemployment

J. Occupat. Psychol.

Understanding the Unemployed

Men without jobs: Some correlates of age and length of unemployment

J. Occupat. Psychol.

The psychological impact of unemployment

New Society

The psychological impact of unemployment

New Society

The Social Processes of Aging and Old Age

Knowing how to quit: on the finitudes of everyday life

Sociol. Inquiry

On Death and Dying

Bereavement, Stages of Grief in Adult Life

Stages in the psychological response to unemployment: A (dis)integrative review

Curr. Psychol. Res. Rev.

Bereavement and reactions to job loss: A comparative review

Br. J. soc. Psychol.

A study of the psychological effects of redundance and unemployment

J. Occupat. Psychol.