NETHERLANDS by Bridgette Fortin

I. COUNTRY:  Netherlands

II. TOTAL POPULATION: 16.73 million (2013)

III. POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS: (men, women, kids, ethnicities)

0-14 years: 17.1% (male 1,468,364/female 1,401,651)

15-24 years: 12.2% (male 1,041,181/female 1,002,125)

25-54 years: 40.8% (male 3,436,713/female 3,411,374)

55-64 years: 12.9% (male 1,083,095/female 1,085,929)

65 years and over: 17.1% (male 1,284,788/female 1,589,817) (2013 est.)

(World Population Review, 2014)

Ethnicities:

Dutch 79.3%

Europeans  5.7%

Turks 2.4%

Indo-Europeans  2.3%

Moroccans at 2.2%,

Surinamese  2.1%,

Caribbeans at 0.9%,

Poles at 0.6%,

Chinese at 0.3%,

Iraqis at 0.3%,

Other ethnic groups that comprise the remaining 3.9%.

(CIA World Factbook, 2013)

IV. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

3,000,000  per year

(Geneeskd, 1999)

V. RELIGION / CULTURAL BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT:

Religion:  According to CBS, in the year 2005/2006, 58% of Dutch people said they belonged to a religion or believed in a certain ideology. This is the equivalent of more than9 million people. Roman Catholics are the largest group with 29 percent. Nearly 20 percent are Protestant, and 5 percent are Muslims. The remaining 5 percent include Jews and Hindus, among other groups. Around 42 percent of the population says they do not belong to a religion.

(Statistics Netherlands, 2008)

Cultural Beliefs: Family is the key to social structure in Holland. The families are often small with only one or two children. Mothers tend to have no job outside of the family home as they are responsible for the upbringing of their children. This is unlike many other cultures.

Dutch people take great pride in appearances, they are known to be very disciplined, conservative and pay attention to all minor details. However they are all very private people and do not want attention upon themselves for any life successes. They do not like people who show and tell everyone how much money they have and the materialistic objects they may have.

Dutch people are highly tolerant of individual differences, and their children go through schooling without any gender bias. As the tax burden upon its workers is so high there is virtually no poverty at all in the whole country. Everyone is shown respect despite their differences.

(Every Culture, 2014)

IMPACT OF BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT ON PERCEPTION OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

Not much information is out there on how the Dutch perceive the mentally ill, but from what I could find they said that they don't see people different from one another despite problems they may have.

VI. METHODS OF SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

Since 2002 Euthanasia has been regulated in Holland and it is acceptable to assist the mentally ill with Euthanasia. In 2013, 13 psychiatric patients were euthanized which was a 500% increase since 2010.

The Netherlands have seen a steady increase in the euthanasia of mentally ill people since its regulation in 2002. There is also a movement within the mental health community professions to legitimize rational suicide.

(K House, 2013)

VII. PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

The Netherlands seems like a great place to live that isn’t as judgmental as the United States, and what really stood out to me was that there is virtually no poverty at all in the whole country due to taxes, and that the Dutch are highly tolerant of individual differences.

VIII. REFERENCES: (APA FORMAT)

References

Advameg, Inc (2014). Culture of The Netherlands - history, people, clothing, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/The-Netherlands.html

Geneeskd, N. T. (1999). How much mental illness is there in the Netherlands? Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9763838

Koinonia House (2013, November 5). Euthanasia for the Mentally Disabled? - eNews for November 05, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://www.khouse.org/enews_article/2013/2159/print/

Statistics Netherlands (2008, June 12). CBS - Only few Dutch people go to church or mosque regularly - Web magazine. Retrieved June 5, 2014, from http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/vrije-tijd-cultuur/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2008/2008-2476-wm.htm

World Fact Book (2013). Netherlands Demographics Profile 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.indexmundi.com/netherlands/demographics_profile.html

Worlds Population Review (2014). Netherlands Population 2014 - World Population Review. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/netherlands-population/