Le présent article expose une synthèse de travaux utiles à la compréhension des processus psychologiques à l’œuvre dans le recrutement et plus particulièrement ceux qui sont à l’origine de comportements discriminatoires des acteurs de l’organisation. Une réflexion autour de l’adéquation de ces connaissances à la situation particulière de l’inclusion professionnelle de personnes en situation de handicap psychique est également proposée. La revue de la littérature fait état d’investigations scientifiques encore peu nombreuses sur ce thème, même si les données existantes nous permettent déjà de dégager des pistes de recherche et des hypothèses qui sont encore à mettre à l’épreuve. La question de l’accompagnement des organisations et de ses acteurs dans les différentes étapes du processus d’inclusion professionnelle (recrutement, intégration ou retour en emploi et maintien) pour modifier les représentations sociales sources de préjugés et combattre les discriminations semble prometteuse. Elle nécessite encore d’être explorée et adaptée à la problématique singulière qu’est le handicap psychique en milieu de travail.

Mental health in the workplace today are ubiquitous and cause significant dysfunction in organizations (turnover, absenteeism, presenteeism, early retirement, long sick…). Statements of professional unfitness for depression is of particular concern. The human and financial costs associated with the support of mental disability is important, in France it is estimated to 14 billion euros. Mental disorder in the workplace also has a significant impact on the individual. If not always leads to actual inability to work, it usually causes, from the disclosure of the disorder, professional inequalities related to perceived environmental work disability. Therefore, this type of public remains largely on the sidelines of a stable occupation and all forms of recognition and undergo disqualifications and some forms of exclusion. Instead of saving, the workplace can promote relapse and even constitute a real obstacle to improving health. These exclusionary behavior result in persistent employment resistance in France and elsewhere, especially because of the prejudice of employers. These resistances persist despite legal obligations in this regard (e.g. in France: Law of 11 February 2005 on Equal Rights and Opportunities). To address the issue of sustainable professional inclusion (recruitment, integration and job preservation) of people with mental disabilities, studies are especially developed for the rehabilitation in the workplace of this public or accompanying us in their professional reintegration into protected workplaces. We propose a reflection on the adaptation of knowledge about psychological processes of hiring discrimination in the particular employment situation of people with mental disabilities in ordinary workplaces. Researches on social representations, stereotypes and prejudices applied in the workplace help to understand the negative attitudes and resistance to the hiring of people with mental disabilities despite regulations. Representations of professional efficiency, cognitive bias in social perception, personological expectations and responsibilities about the success of the employment integration of new employees strongly impact the hiring and integration behaviors of actors of the company. Nevertheless, the influence of the organizational context was highlighted in the researches in psychology of organizations. Recruitment and integration practices implemented by organizations, the procedures used to recruit (procedural justice) and the quality of interpersonal treatment of individuals (interpersonal justice) are essential elements of socialization. Disability is recognized as a particularly salient dimension and effective in activating cognitive processes biased. Individual and/or collective courses of action as persuasive communication, suppression and dilution of stereotypes, self-regulation of prejudice, intergroup contact and the sharing of values, affirmative action, promoting diversity, are proposed to modify these psychological barriers. However, their effectiveness is moderated by various individual factors such as the level of prejudice of actors, their previous work experience of disabled workers, their commitment to the values promoted by the organization for example, or organizational and structural factors such as the characteristics of the organization, the degree of formalization of hiring procedures, social policy of the organization and how it is conveyed and received by workers… These studies support the conclusion that the process of professional inclusion of public considered as “non-standard” is complex. These tracks remain to be tested under the mental disability taking into account the type of company and characteristics of actors that constitute them.