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Self-Labeling Processes in Mental Illness: The Role of Emotional Deviance

Thomas Scheff's labeling approach to mental illness is based on reactions of other to "residual rule-breaking." This article develops a theory of self-labeling processes to account for the unexplained phenomenon of voluntary treatment seeking. By taking the role of the generalized other, individual can assess the meaning of their impulses and actions. When individuals observe themselves frequently or persistently breaking "residual rules," they attribute disturbance to themselves and may seek professional help. Drawing from Hochschild and Pugliesi, the article reconceptualized " residual rule-breaking" as violations of feeling or expression norms. When individuals are unable to manage or transform deviant feelings, self-attributions of disturbance should result. The conditions under which feeling management attempts are likely to fail and result in self-attributions of disturbance are outlined in the context of a more general theory of emotional processes. Some conditions under which labeling by others may occur are also identified, using the same theoretical approach.