published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / abstract / Japanese Studies / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / SPACE / Master / Master of Arts

Background/ Objectives: It can always be recognised that mass media is one of key sources of information to society. Moreover, it has a great power to affect our life. Printed media, for example, newspaper as one of media communications contains words and texts, which can also create a strong power to influence readers to receive information, including news coverage of mental illness. The objective of this study is to analyse our selected the terms of Schizophrenia, Psychosis and Psychotic Patients from our selected three local Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong, to see the frequency and the trend of reporting incidents on news stories, and the use of language/words to portray people with mental illness on press coverage. Research questions were about 1) the change of frequency using the term of Schizophrenia, and under the same question the hypothesis was to see if using the term of Psychosis was more than Schizophrenia; 2) reviewed the term of Schizophrenia to see our selected three local newspapers whether or not choosing the term of Schizophrenia on news coverage more than Psychosis; 3) assessed both terms of Schizophrenia and Psychosis regarding incidents in all articles, the former was related to negative stories and the latter was related to good news coverage. 4) We reviewed the trend of using all keywords akin to metaphorical (words) usage in all articles. At last, 5) we also assessed all keywords in regard to the trend of using of stereotyping wordings in all papers in our selected years. Method: We assessed the database of retrospective newspaper via WiseNews of electronic resource at the University of Hong Kong, to retrieve the total of 1884 articles, from chosen newspapers, for example, Apple Daily, Ming Pao Daily News and Tai Kung Pao Daily News. We retrieved those newspapers in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2012 for our research study. Results: It is good to see that, since 2001 renaming in Psychosis (思覺失調), the term has been widely accepted in the public and has already been used on news coverage. In comparison with both terms of Schizophrenia (精神分裂 [症]) and Psychosis (思覺失調), we noticed that the frequency of using the name of Schizophrenia on printed media has, however, still remained higher than the term of psychosis to portray people with mental illness in all news papers [Schizophrenia – 40.2% 757/1884 /Psychosis – 24.9% 469/1884]. And we also noted that the term of Psychotic Patients was strong association with people in Schizophrenia to appear on same news coverage, according to our research findings. Meanwhile, it can be seen that using Psychosis (renaming in Chinese) on news coverage was increased gradually from 2002 – 2012, whereas using Schizophrenia was a lead in association with criminal cases, with 35/132 of unfavourable events. On the one hand, it can be noted that the trend of metaphorical usage was increased gradually from 2002 – 2012, and in all newspapers the more frequency of using metaphorical words/usage was to insult/cite someone with 46.2% (175/379 articles). On the other hand, it is not surprising to see that the more frequency of using stereotyping words was “Dangerous” or “Violence” to portray people with mental illness in all newspapers, which was highest record with 61.8% (202/327 counted articles) Conclusion: Mass media is generally recognised as key source of information to society, including media coverage of mental illness. Moreover, press media has a great power to influence us. In content analysis of our selected articles, it can be noted that in 2002 –2012, using the term of Schizophrenia was more than using Psychosis in our selected three local Chinese newspapers. It was revealed that the trend of using metaphorical (words) usage in all papers was increased gradually and the more frequency using of both terms was to insult/cite someone. It can be no doubt that inappropriate words and negative descriptive languages to portray people with mental illness on news coverage could influence people’s perception with negative towards psychotic patients. Stigma is a great impact on people with mental illness to receive treatment appropriately and can minimise their self-esteem as a result of causing social withdrawal. Family and relatives are also considerably stigmatised. Educational promotion is one of critical ways to promote mental health, to increase more public awareness and knowledge of mental illness in our society. It could be suggested that training for journalists could be essential, in order to avoid using of sensational or negative descriptive language on news coverage of mental illness that could reduce stigma. We believe that the more people know and receive information accurate on media coverage of mental illness, the less people can form stigma in our society. / published_or_final_version / Psychological Medicine / Master / Master of Psychological Medicine

abstract / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

Background Mental illness is one of the most stigmatized conditions in our society. Since 1990, Yankelovich [1] revealed that the mass media, including television and broadcast news, are the primary source of information about mental illness. The media are believed to play a major role in contributing to mental illness stigma via the images they portray of characters with mental illness as well as the misinformation communicated, inaccurate use of psychiatric terms, and unfavorable stereotypes of people with mental illness according to Wahl’s study [2]. However, little is known about the influence of Hong Kong media especially the TV broadcast. Therefore, this study is going to investigate Cantonese TV dramas which related on psychosis, which strongly influence the public recognition of the illness. Objective The objective of this study is to1)analyze the selected terms ‘ 痴線’ , ‘精神病’ ‘思覺失調’ and ‘精神分裂’ which were related to mental illness that present in the target dramas; 2) to investigate negative images of mental illness in the Cantonese TV dramas; 3)to investigate the relationship between the characters and the terms. Method This study investigated the domestic free television program service licensees TVB about the drama series they provide within 2001 to 2012 which broadcasted during 8pm to 10:30pm. The dramas in year 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2012 would be chosen. The terms‘ 痴線’ , ‘精神病’ ‘思覺失調’ and ‘精神分裂were selected to be analyzed. All episodes were classified by category and analyzed quantitatively. Results the term of痴線still remained the highest than other terms within the same period of these six selected year. In year 2007, the term of ‘思覺失調’ started being used 0.7% but still in a low frequency comparatively to 痴線13.3% and 精神病1.9Similar results were found in the year of 2011 and 2012. There was a decreased in using 痴線, from approximately 30 % to 10% from 2001 to 2012. There was also an obvious decrease in using the term of ‘精神病’ from 10% to 1% from 2001 to 2012. In general, many of the references to mental illness were about a character's actions in a situation rather than a character's nature or mental state. Characters who received these terms were depicted negatively in the majority of occurrences. Conclusion The stigma of psychiatric illness is a negative factor in its presentation, detection and treatment. The mass media’s power to impact public perception and the degree to which people are exposed to media representations makes the mass media one of the most significant influences in developed societies. Many studies including this study showed that the media tends to skew reality. People with mental illness were depicted in negative ways and it damaged their self-esteem as a result, they would not going to seek treatment. / published_or_final_version / Psychological Medicine / Master / Master of Psychological Medicine

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

by Lily Man-ling Mak. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71). / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Dedication --- p.iii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.3 / Chapter 3. --- Research Design --- p.13 / Chapter 4. --- Conceptualizations & Research Questions --- p.16 / Chapter 5. --- Findings & Analysis --- p.18 / Chapter 6. --- Conclusion --- p.64 / Bibliography --- p.67

Lee Yee Chong, Catherine. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. / Acknowledgments / Abstract / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / The Media as Definer of Social Reality --- p.1 / Crime and Hong Kong -- A General Background (1989-1993) --- p.3 / Research Problem and Significance --- p.5 / Notes --- p.7 / Chapter II. --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK -- NEWS AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY --- p.9 / Park (1940) -- News as Knowledge --- p.9 / The Social Construction of Reality --- p.11 / The Foundation of Knowledge in Everyday Life --- p.11 / Society as Objective Reality --- p.12 / Society as Subjective Reality --- p.13 / Media and the Social Construction of Reality: Towards an Integration of Theory and Research --- p.14 / Gatekeeping Theory --- p.16 / Agenda Setting Theory --- p.17 / Media Agenda Setting --- p.18 / An Integrated Theoretical Model for Crime News Study --- p.19 / Conceptualization of social realities --- p.20 / Inference in the process of social construction of reality --- p.20 / Figure 1: Integrated Theoretical Model for Crime News Study Notes --- p.22 / Chapter III. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.24 / Understanding the News making Process --- p.24 / Empirical Research in Crime News (1950s - 1990s) --- p.25 / Crime News as a Distorted Reality -- Misrepresentation and biasin reporting --- p.25 / Criteria in News Reporting --- p.29 / How Crime News is Handled by the Press - -Differences in Media Agenda --- p.31 / Crime News and Criminal Activities in Contemporary Society --- p.33 / "Crime News, Public Attitude and Fear of Victimization" --- p.34 / Crime News in Chinese Newspapers --- p.35 / Major Publication in Crime and the Press (1970s - 1990s) --- p.36 / Quinney (1970) - -The Social Reality of Crime --- p.36 / Winick (1978) - -Deviance and Mass Media --- p.37 / Graber (1980) - -Crime News and the Public --- p.38 / "Ericson, Baranek and Chan (1987) --Visualizing Deviance: A Study of News Organization" --- p.41 / "Ericson, Baranek and Chan (1989) -- Negotiating Control: A Study of News Source" --- p.42 / "Ericson, Baranek and Chan (1991) - -Representing Order: Crime, Law, and Justice in the Mass Media" --- p.43 / Lotz (1991) - -Crime and the American Press --- p.44 / "Suretta (1992) -- Media, Crime, and Criminal Justices: Images and Realities" --- p.45 / Summary on Research Findings --- p.45 / Notes --- p.47 / Chapter IV. --- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES AND METHODOLOGIES --- p.50 / Research Hypotheses --- p.50 / Research Design --- p.52 / Definition of Crime --- p.52 / Background Information of Ming Pao and Oriental Daily News --- p.53 / Sampling and Data Collection Methods --- p.54 / Basic Research Design and Operationalization of Variables --- p.56 / Notes --- p.58 / Chapter V. --- CRIME NEWS IN HONG KONG --- p.59 / Size of Coverage and Various Visual Aids --- p.59 / Nature and Causes of Crime --- p.65 / Stereotypes of Suspects and Criminals --- p.67 / Stereotypes of Victims --- p.72 / "Sources, Information and Newsworthiness" --- p.73 / Image of Crime Fighting Institutions and Public Security --- p.78 / Distortions in Crime News Coverage --- p.80 / Official Reality versus Symbolic Reality --- p.81 / "Media Attention, Newsworthiness and Different Crime Topics" --- p.85 / Legitimating the Status of Law Enforcement Institutions --- p.87 / Differences in Media Agenda -- Elite Press versus Mass-Oriented Press --- p.88 / Notes --- p.92 / Chapter VI. --- THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF CRIME --- p.93 / Official News Sources and News Organizations --- p.95 / Market Differences and Media Agenda --- p.96 / Manufacturing A Universal Consensus against Crime --- p.98 / Summary on Discussion --- p.100 / Recommendations for Further Study --- p.101 / Notes --- p.102 / Chapter VII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.103 / Notes --- p.105 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.i -xii / Appendices / Appendix I -- Code Book --- p.1-13 / Appendix II --Table for sampling --- p.1-4 / Appendix III - -Score of Inter Coder Reliability Test --- p.1-2 / Appendix IV -- Important Crime Figures and Other Statistics --- p.1-11 / Appendix V -- Testing of Hypotheses --- p.1-2