My project is on the topic of mental health stigma on college campuses and how both campuses and college students can eliminate that. While it has been very interesting to research, I have hit a few roadblocks or dead ends that have made the project somewhat more difficult or take me longer than it should have. There is not as much research on college mental health programs as I would have preferred. The research is mainly in the category of mental health in general, and there are comparisons statewide, but research in the specifics of college mental health is somewhat sparse and/or difficult to track down.

Even more specifically, was for my qualitative data post, I had wanted to compare and contrast the quality of some of New Jersey’s college’s mental health program, and I was not able to track down any research similar to this. Additionally, I was planning to send surveys to college students regarding their college’s mental health programs, but due to the current pandemic, I was not really able to network with others at colleges, nor did I feel like it was very appropriate to do. Therefore, I had to approach this section of my project from the standpoint of just analyzing what programs colleges offer based off of what they listed on their websites. Due to some of the roadblocks, and my interest in continuing this project after this class, I have had to revise my schedule of when I would get certain things done quite a few times.

Technologically, I have had questions with how to change some of the design aspects of the theme with WordPress. I used to work with WordPress a few years ago but since then I have forgotten how to maneuver certain functions. I also switched my theme because of certain functions that I wanted to include worked better with a different one than the one I had previously downloaded. Otherwise, I have had no issues in uploading or saving my work. My website is not where I want it to be just yet, however, I wanted to focus on the content first, and then revisit the design and physical look of it afterward.

Altogether, while I have a great deal of knowledge of mental health stigma, especially among college students, through this project, I have been able to learn a lot of new information and facts as well. Prior to the research I have conducted for this project, I did not know that the first college health program was created in 1861 with the standards for which mental health in colleges should follow were not set until Syracuse in 1931. I have also learned about various mental health programs at different colleges all throughout New Jersey. I really did not think that the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) had the most advanced or innovative mental health programs, at least from my perspective of learning about it on the website, out of them all. I am very excited that I was able to finally start a project like this through this course as this was something I had wanted to do for a while, and I really look forward to continuing this, especially when colleges officially reopen. I hope to work with counseling centers at various colleges and help them spread their programs and better support their students.

Because my topic is somewhat niche and slightly narrow, I was able to find scholarly articles on the topic but not as much data that I can import directly into Tableau. However, I have done a lot of extensive research, therefore, I will be conducting my own data that I can input into Tableau so that I can still utilize the tool with a more compatible data set. The data that I will be conducting and inputting will illustrate the number of mental health programs accessible to students at the forty-seven colleges of the state. Thanks to the advice of my professor, I will also include not just the number of programs, but college tuition, median income after graduation, graduation rates, and other information that may provide a deeper analysis of mental health care for college students in New Jersey.

Prior to making the decision of conducting my own data, I had searched through databases such as Pew Research Center, Gallup, and social science-based journals through ProQuest. As I discussed in my project contract, I did find a few data sets through Gallup and Pew Research Center. For the two found through Gallup, they broke down the information from a different perspective than what I am used to seeing. Gallup organized their data by generations. (1) This is an important data set because as times and society have modernized, it is essential to recognize that studies have shown that younger generations have a higher rate of mental health disorders than older ones. The Gallup poll connects this parallel by showing that the boost of technology use is the reason for the increase in mental health disorders among younger generations.

The Pew Research data set I found was also fairly unique as it took a more direct approach to find information on mental health among younger generations, specifically aged 13-17. (2) A group of teens were given a list of topics where they each had to vote what they believed to be the most prevalent issue among their peers. The top issues were anxiety and depression. Though this survey was conducted in 2018, I can only imagine that this number has since risen. Another aspect of the study also explains as to why it is important to look at graduation rates at different colleges for my own research project. The Pew Research Center looked at which students’ anxiety was originating from the pressure to do well in school in order to get into a good college. Though the greatest difference between the research done by The Pew Research Center and me is the group that is being surveyed, the source of a mental health disorder is the same: feeling pressured to do well in school in order to be more successful later in life.

Tying it back to my own data and project, I think it will be slightly easier to process and visualize the data because since I am compiling the data on my own, I have more control over it and how it is organized. It definitely will be more work compared to other topics that already have relevant and specific data sets out there, however, I am excited to see what I can find and actually create a data set on my own.

References:

1. Wolf, Ryan. “Wellbeing by Generation: Where Some Thrive, Others Struggle.” Gallup.com. Gallup, February 28, 2020. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/268025/wellbeing-generation-thrive-others-struggle.aspx.
2. Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, and Nikki Graf. “Most U.S. Teens See Anxiety, Depression as Major Problems.” Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, January 5, 2020. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/02/20/most-u-s-teens-see-anxiety-and-depression-as-a-major-problem-among-their-peers/.

Jane Addams (1860-1935) was a peace activist who was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Her involvement was “instrumental in successfully lobbying for the establishment of a juvenile court system, better urban sanitation and factory laws, protective labor legislation for women, and more playgrounds and kindergartens throughout Chicago.” (5) It was during the first World War, that Addams began promoting international peace. Since her time, she has become known as the “most loved woman in America” while also “the most dangerous woman in America” because of how powerful her peace efforts were.

Though mental health has a history of being a taboo topic, it is still extremely interesting to be able to see how it was discussed in earlier times. When going through the “Jane Addams Digital Edition” it allowed me to find numerous primary sources that clearly depicted what mental health was thought of and also how those that suffered from a mental health disorder were viewed.

However, though many viewed mental health as a disease and ‘bad karma’, Addams, who was a social reform activist, supported the work that was being done in terms of bringing awareness. She wrote a letter in November 1911 to Clifford W Beers, who was the secretary for the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, praising him and members of the committee for taking upon such an important task. First Addams addressed how this committee’s focus was to help those with mental health disorders, describing their mission as “the prevention of insanity and the amelioration of the condition fo the insane.” (1) Though calling someone with a general mental health disorder as insane is quite unacceptable nowadays, it was the norm in the early twentieth century. Addams continued, however, “I can imagine nothing more valuable to any community than the carrying out of your well-considered plans.” (2)

To further demonstrate the general opinions of mental health in this time period, there was another letter, this time being written to Addams in 1917, by Carolyn Sturgis. In this letter, Sturgis writes how those that are affected by mental health ought to be arrested, otherwise, they cannot be helped. Sturgis writes in the letter to Addams, “just as you yourself will stand by what you think [is] right, so do I.” (3) Sturgis continues, “Of course the tendency of our enlightening age is to treat such people more and more by “passive restraint” but it is not possible to treat them until they have been arrested.” (4) This letter was truly eye-opening to see how mental health was viewed as something that in a way, possessed people, because the emotion demonstrated in letters and other historical documents of earlier time periods, do not necessarily demonstrate hatred, but rather fear.

Overall, mental health has never been an easy topic to discuss and it was not any easier in earlier centuries. However, social reform activists, like Jane Addams herself, helped further drive the movement forward into a more positive light. In the times I have researched mental health for other projects I have worked on, I had never come upon Addams’ involvement in the field, however, it was refreshing to see her true passion of helping others.

References:

1. Addams, Jane, “Jane Addams to Clifford W. Beers, November 9, 1911,” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed March 4, 2020, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/admin/items/show/3524.
2. Ibid.
3. Sturgis, Carolyn, “Carolyn Sturgis to Jane Addams, June/July 1917,” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed March 4, 2020, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/admin/items/show/13160.
4. Ibid.
5. Michals, Debra. “Jane Addams.” National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/jane-addams.

Sociology tends to be heavily overlooked and not as recognized as a science, though, it is just a different type of science. There is an endless number of theories that describe social and human behavior and allow society to be seen through a different lens. Though research for sociological sciences is done with mostly qualitative studies, that should not take away from it being a science. Four major sociological perspectives have evolved over time: symbolic interactionism, functionalism, conflict theory, and feminist theory. These theoretical framework allows for both individuals in the sociological field and out of to understand all these phenomena.

Throughout the rest of this semester, the focus of my project will be to examine mental health awareness programs on public college campuses in New Jersey. This is something I am very passionate about because an individual’s college years are some of the most stressful, yet so influential as it is a very transitional period from being an adolescent into adulthood.

While the issue I will be researching is fairly clear, it is important to apply a sociological perspective to it as well. The first one that is applicable is the conflict theory. This theory represents human behavior, in the social context, is shaped by conflicts between two competing groups. Generally, conflict theory emphasizes the inequality of a social group. Conflict theorists would argue that those with the fewest resources are those that have the least amount of resources will be usually the ones that are classified with a mental health illness. (1)

The conflict that can be seen in the mental health field is the difficulty of getting mental health help. There are grassroots organizations that fight with bureaucratic groups to help provide better support for people that are in need. This is not always seen as a big issue because this tends to mainly affect those that are from poorer backgrounds and may not necessarily have the resources or funds to get better help and therefore have to go through the state or federal care.

Then, there is the symbolic interactionist perspective. This theory is another way to explain social behavior but rather than conflicts, it is demonstrated by examining how individuals interact with one another through symbols and are socially constructed. In simpler terms, how one feels about themselves is developed by how they act and interact with others. Most individuals that have a mental health disorder experience this perspective because of self-stigma based on all the nasty things that have been said about individuals with mental health disorders, the fear of rejection, and the feeling of needing to hide this aspect of oneself.

Applying these sociological perspectives to my topic helped me see my topic through a deeper lens and helped me see some other routes that I may take through my research. Specifically through the conflict theory, I will also be doing a fair amount of research to see the intersectionality present and see if a trend emerges among minority students having access to sufficient mental health care compared to the majority.

References

1. Crossman, Ashley. “The Sociology of Deviance and Mental Illness.” ThoughtCo. ThoughtCo, August 19, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/deviance-and-mental-illness-3026266.

Though I have heard of sweatshops before I visited the Tenement Museum, my understanding of them after the visit was so much more in-depth. I was amazed to hear how families of eight would live in the small apartments, with kids still sleeping on the floor of what would be their work area or garment sweatshop.

The difference between sweatshops now compared to the 1800s is the size and location. As briefly mentioned earlier, they were usually just one room with a few workers. Their wives would occasionally bring them food, and as discussed at the museum, they were at least able to see their kids since they were working from home. However, nowadays, sweatshops are in cafeteria-like large rooms with as many workers packed in as possible. Very rarely will workers get a lunch break, and they do not see their families during the day. Conditions have changed mainly because as prominent retailers and department stores have emerged, they all want one thing: the most profit. And unfortunately, that means their factory workers, get the short end of the stick. However, in American sweatshop factories, conditions are not as bad as they are in international ones. Internationally, child labor is still happening at extremely young ages, and women that are pregnant must continue working as well. The website, “The World Counts” posted the statistic that “250 million children between 5 and 14 are forced to work in sweatshops in developing countries. The pay? Sometimes less than 20 cents per day or about one cent per hour.”

What is most disturbing is that these major companies know what they are doing. According to an article on WWD, in 2016, “more than $65,000 in civil penalties were levied against repeat or willful violators. The factories that violated laws regulating minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping made clothes for retailers including Ross Stores, T.J. Maxx, Forever 21, Bealls, Charlotte Russe, Burlington, Windsor, Nordstrom, Macy’s and Dillard’s.” (1) The keyword in this quote being repeat and willful.

The link between sweatshop work and immigration is that when immigrants come to the United States, they are not necessarily aware of all the rules and regulations, therefore, they are seen as easy targets. More specifically, they are not necessarily aware of wage requirements, “mandatory” working conditions, and other important factors that should be normally enforced by employers. Therefore, when they hear of a job opportunity in the U.S., they would rather take it than being left unemployed.

Though sweatshops, for the most part, have horrendous conditions and pay their workers unfairly, there are minor benefits for immigrants and other workers. First, as mentioned earlier, they provide more jobs and do not necessarily require any identification or paperwork to be hired. Second, as we saw in the Tenement Museum, immigrants were able to connect with others from their culture and help each other from getting homesick and not feel as lonely. Additionally, “The World Counts” did report that if workers’ rights are being properly followed, then it may benefit poor countries. They mention Honduras, where the average sweatshop “worker earns 13 US dollars per day, which is a decent wage considering that 44 percent of the country’s population lives on less than 2 dollars per day.” (2) While this wage would not really work to the United States’ federal standards, news sites have reported that it is somewhat beneficial to poorer countries. Overall, this comes down to ensuring that all people are treated like people and are given a fair chance for a good quality of life.

References:

1. “Sweatshops Persist in U.S. Garment Industry.” WWD. WWD, December 5, 2016. https://wwd.com/business-news/government-trade/sweatshops-persist-in-u-s-garment-industry-10716742/.
2. The World Counts. Accessed February 17, 2020. https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/people-and-poverty/slavery-and-sweatshops/sweatshop-workers-conditions.

The stigma surrounding mental health would be the first social issue that I would like to explore. When doing some preliminary research, I was fascinated to learn that there is actually a fair amount of recorded history on mental health. For my project, I will definitely be able to dive deeper into the history of mental health a bit more. According to the World Health Organization, in January 2020 they published that “depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease,” (1) with over 260 million people suffering from a mental health illness, more specifically depression. This affects me because I am one of those 260 million people that has had to overcome struggles from depression.

The path I plan to take with researching this topic is to definitely focus on and mention the overall aspect of mental health in New Jersey while touching upon the United States as well, however taking it one step further and researching how mental health is perceived on college campuses by both students and faculty. This will allow me to examine how mental health and its effects vary among different economic classes, genders, races, and ethnicities. Most importantly, the main aspect of my project will allow me to see how my fellow peers feel when it comes to the topic during the years they are more prone to developing a mental health disorder due to the pressures of truly transitioning into adulthood.

Furthermore, it affects the community because of the insane number of people that are affected by mental health and because when mental health is left untreated or if the treatment is not working, the number of people who feel that suicide is the only option has unfortunately greatly increased, and is now, therefore, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. WHO also mentions that while mental health disorders are treatable, about 76%-85% of people that are diagnosed do not have the resources or even necessary funds to get the treatment which has been known for a very long time, yet not much has actually been done.

Another social issue that is very important to me is women’s rights, especially it comes to the pay gap. This is yet another topic in which most of society has acknowledged that there is a present gender disparity in the labor force, yet not that much significant action has been taken to truly solve this issue. One may say, wait, wasn’t there the Equal Pay Act of 1963 which was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy? Yes, however, according to numerous publications, women are still only earning seventy-nine cents for every dollar a man makes. AND this is not accounting for women of different races or people from different educational backgrounds.

Furthermore, within the past few years, there have been multiple class-action suits that argue against gender discrimination as well. For example, in April 2019 a group of women claimed that media giant Disney treats women extremely poorly and like cheap labor. (2) Similarly, in August 2018, four women who had worked for the athletic company Nike filed a class-action lawsuit acquired that Nike participated in activities that covered up sexual harassment and gender wage discrimination. (3) This affects both me and women of my community because as a woman myself, it is important that both genders are treated equally and given the same opportunities to grow. I have done research on this topic before and as mentioned earlier in this section, there are many statistics and a great deal of history to support the argument for women’s rights.

The final social issue that I would potentially research is government and political problems. This is an area in which I am probably most inexperienced but do have some background knowledge from an internship I had through the House of Representatives in the summer of 2019. While the internship did somewhat show me behind the scenes of being a Congressman and what goes into being a politician, what I saw most was the distrust that the people have in our government as a whole. When the government was first created, it was to help and better express the needs of the people. However, as it modernized, it seems that it has become more of a game and a competition.

According to a study done by the Pew Research Center in 2018, (4) 63% of Americans have very little to no trust in their elected officials. And the numbers only grow larger when looking at the people’s trust in major institutions. Not only do the people then feel uncomfortable with their officials for the time of their position, but Americans have also reported that this distrust prevents societal issues from getting solved as well. According to a New York Times Article, people believe that this distrust can be solved through electing officials that are “older, more educated, and had higher household incomes…” (5)

This effects my community and myself because it is very obvious that there are many pressing issues happening in our society, but the public and politicians need to come together in order to come up with a solution that will take time but overall improve the situations. A way this research can be conducted is by looking at trust in elected officials over the years and identifying what events took place at the time when trust sank. There are many statistics and studies done such as the one previously mentioned by the Pew Research Center.

References:

1. “Depression.” World Health Organization. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression.
2. Sam Levin, “Treated as Cheap Labor’: Disney Underpays Women, Lawsuit Alleges,” The Guardian (Guardian News and Media, April 4, 2019), https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/03/disney-company-women-pay-gap-lawsuit).
3. Alexia Fernández Campbell, “Why the Gender Discrimination Lawsuit against Nike Is so Significant,” Vox (Vox, August 15, 2018), https://www.vox.com/2018/8/15/17683484/nike-women-gender-pay-discrimination-lawsuit).
4. “Distrust in America Viewed as Problem.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, December 31, 2019. https://www.people-press.org/2019/07/22/how-americans-see-problems-of-trust/.
5. Stevens, Matt. “Falling Trust in Government Makes It Harder to Solve Problems, Americans Say.” The New York Times. The New York Times, July 22, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/us/politics/pew-trust-distrust-survey.html.

Surveys have been around for generations, yet when approached by a random individual to take a survey, most people would say no. This is because the modernization of society has resulted in companies profiting from selling the data acquired from conducted surveys. People, including myself, have become more skeptical of surveys also because, with all this technology, we are constantly being sold something, and have trouble “to know what is legitimate and what is just an attempt to sell them something.” However, as reported in the New York Times article, “Why People Hate Taking Surveys,” a “Transparency Initiative” was created in order to bring back the faith in surveys by creating more standards and regulations must follow in surveying. But whether these are actually followed or have helped build trust back in surveyors.

Through research I conducted myself and articles that I have read, surveying is better than traditional research methods because of how technological our society has become. Nowadays, with online surveys, individuals can just click on a link and respond to questions in real-time. Especially, with programs such as Google Forms, the resulting data is automatically organized and compiled based on the answers received, ultimately saving steps and time that would be needed to interpret and go through the data. Conducting research through online surveys is also a notably less expensive process as well because there is a greater reach in less time. Another aspect of online surveys that prove they may provide more accurate information because some individuals may feel more comfortable being more specific or answering questions more truthfully anonymously through their phone or computer rather than in a face-to-face interview because of the fear of experiencing judgment from others.

What is also interesting about the impact of surveys, is because of technological advancements, people all over the world of different cultures will be able to respond rather than research conducted by word of mouth which allows for more opinions and perspectives to be represented. That is the beauty of surveys. Everyone has different world views because of the environment they grew up in and what resources they had access to and so on, therefore, different topics matter to different people. Overall, their more pros than cons of surveys because of how much easier it is to get more people to participate in the study and therefore, gather more information on more demographics than traditional research methods.

For example, when looking at the issue of the wage gap: this is an issue which may be more important and concerning for women because they are the ones that are receiving the short end of the stick in that situation, whereas men are being paid the wages and receiving the promotions that women deserve just as much. An individual’s race also plays into the importance of certain social issues over others. For example, bringing the previous example of the wage gap further, Kimberle Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, women of color are even further oppressed and receive even fewer wages and promotions than a woman of caucasian background. Therefore, women of color may find the wage gap even more pressing than caucasian women might.

References:

1. “Online Surveys versus Traditional Market Research.” Online Surveys compared with Traditional Market Research. Accessed February 6, 2020. http://www.marketingmindsresearch.com/case_study.html.
2. Thee-brenan, Megan. “Why People Hate Taking Surveys.” The New York Times. The New York Times, June 5, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/upshot/why-people-hate-taking-surveys.html.