Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

Vogel and Wade (both, Iowa State Univ.) introduce this large four-part volume by arguing the need for valid and reliable measures of stigma in the mental health context and the limitations of research to date. Intersectionality is a common theme throughout, considering multiple cross-cutting identities (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, culture) to gain an accurate understanding of experienced stigma. Chapters 4 ("Measurement of Mental Illness Stigma and Discrimination") and 10 ("The Intersection of Mental Health Stigma and Marginalized Identities") are key contributions. Part 3 examines particular contexts. For example, chapter 11 highlights the struggles of ethnic minority individuals in attempting to access mental health care due to public, self-, and even within-group stigma. Chapter 12 examines mental health in LGBTQ+ populations, which face public stigma involving stereotypes related to their identity in addition to those associated with mental health issues. Chapters in part 4 examine evidence-based interventions for combating stigma and creating change. An important feature of this part is the focus on clinicians and their responsibility to make practice inclusive, and to work against historical stigma within clinical psychology. This book would be an especially welcome addition to university libraries supporting programs in clinical psychology, but is also relevant for other fields of study, such as public policy and sociology.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.