An examination of stigmatising attributions about mental illness amongst police custody staff

Abstract

Individuals who enter police custody may experience mental ill health, making it highly imperative for custody staff to be knowledgeable and competent in this areahowever, reports suggest this is not always the case (Leese & Russel, 2017). The present study examined the differences in casual attributions and stereotypes of individuals experiencing mental ill health, namely schizophrenia, between police custody staff (n =77) and members of the general population (n =85). Using the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-27; Corrigan, 2004), the current study found that the general population held more negative attitudes towards individuals experiencing mental ill health than police custody staff. In particular they endorsed the attributions anger, avoidance, dangerousness and fear. Custody staff were found to be more willing to help vulnerable adults than the general population. In addition, people who knew a family member or friend experiencing mental ill health scored higher on the help and pity attributions.

Exploring the relationship between psychopathy and criminal thinking: utilising the Tri-PM within a forensic sample

“…This finding is parallel to the data which suggest that acquisitive offenders are more likely to be career criminals and have higher offending records than sexual offenders, and also suggests that the interventions required for both acquisitive offenders and sexual offenders should be considered as unique. However, whilst cross-sectional surveys can provide invaluable insight to criminological professions (Wainwright and Mojtahedi, 2020), further longitudinal data is needed to reliably assess the causal pathways between cognition, personality and criminal behaviour.…”

Motivations for adolescent offending and truancy from school: retrospective interviews with adults recently released from a custodial prison sentence in England

“…Psychological research is routinely providing practical knowledge around the management and prevention of crime (e.g., Wainwright and Mojtahedi, 2020 : Willmott et al., 2021 ; Mojtahedi et al., 2018 , 2019 ) and the present study follows suit. Despite the adoption of an alternative study design and method by which factors contributing adolescent truancy and offending can be assessed, the study findings obtained here support conclusions drawn in a wealth of past research surrounding factors which contribute to such juvenile behaviours.…”

Lawyers’ beliefs about mental illnesses and their tendency to stigmatize people with mental illnesses

“…Üstün & İnan, (2018) had nursing students watch movies, develop projects, discuss cases, share experiences, and make newspapers within the scope of a “Training Program to Fight Stigmatization.” They found that the program helped the students recognize their prejudices against mental illnesses and made them feel good about being part of the fight against stigma attached to mental illnesses. Wainwright and Mojtahedi (2020) examined stigma related to individuals experiencing mental ill health among police custody staff and the general population in England. It was found that the general population had more stigmatization, fear and feelings of dangerousness than police custody personnel regarding individuals experiencing mental ill health.…”