Meaning-making in 'outsider art' as a reflection of stigma and marginalization in mental illness.

The public engages directly with conceptions of mental illness through the meaning-making process in outsider art. Marginalization is acknowledged in current research as a considerable barrier to recovery from mental illness. The focus of this thesis is the critical visual analysis of meaning-making in outsider art to identify processes and practices which reinforce stigma and marginalization of artists diagnosed as mentally ill. The analysis of meaning-making processes at the sites of production, image and audience provides important insights for contemporary mental health research, policy and practice. Psychiatric/mental health knowledge, practices and research play a significant role in marginalization at the sites of meaning-making and so have considerable potential, authority and responsibility to reduce stigma and marginalization. Changing the process within mental health-arts has potential to reduce marginalization for artists with mental illness, increase inclusion and the reduce stigma of mental illness. --P.ii.