The Role of Empathy in Bias towards Mental Illness among Prospective Law Enforcement Officers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15316183 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kayla Gomez (Tarleton State University, corresponding author), Stephanie Robertson (0000-0002-9843-3028, Tarleton State University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 37-52 |
| Publication date | 2022-02-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Criminal Justice Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1051-1253 • E-ISSN: 1745-9117 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10511253.2022.2034905 |
| OpenAlex | W4211191653 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 50 |
The criminalization hypothesis states that due to the deinstitutionalization of mental health patients and lack of available care, law enforcement officers (LEO) are interacting with people with mental illness (PWMI) more often. However, there is a lack of research regarding LEO attitudes towards PWMI. This study measures implicit and explicit bias along with levels of empathy prospective LEO hold towards mental illness. Participants completed the Go-No-Go Association Task and a survey. Results suggested that participants viewed PWMI as unpredictable, but did not hold fear/avoidance, malevolence, or authoritarian views towards PWMI. Participants did not hold negative implicit bias towards PWMI, nor did implicit bias scores predict explicit bias scores. Empathy, however, was significantly negatively correlated with explicit bias scores, and was a significant predictor of explicit bias. Participants who scored lower on empathy scored higher on explicit bias, while participants with higher empathy scores scored lower on explicit bias
Empathy · Mental health · Mental illness · Psychiatry · Clinical Psychology · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
Deaths of people with mental illness during interactions with law enforcement
The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire
Demonstrations of implicit anti-fat bias
Stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses
Challenging Two Mental Illness Stigmas
Contact Between Police and People With Mental Disorders
Familiarity with mental illness and social distance from people with schizophrenia and major depression
Structural Modeling of Generalized Prejudice
Do Contact and Empathy Mitigate Bias Against Gay and Lesbian People Among Heterosexual First-Year Medical Students? A Report From the Medical Student CHANGE Study
Development of reliable and valid short forms of the marlowe-crowne social desirability scale
The Go/No-Go Association Task
Examining the link between socioeconomic status and mental illness prejudice
Is Dangerousness a Myth? Injuries and Police Encounters with People with Mental Illnesses
The Subtle Side of Stigma
The Role of Empathy in Improving Intergroup Relations
Empathy trumps prejudice
Attitudes About Mental Illness and its Treatment
Familiarity with and social distance from people with mental illness
Empathy and attitudes
Stereotypes of mental disorders differ in competence and warmth
The criminalization of the mentally ill
An Attribution Model of Public Discrimination Towards Persons with Mental Illness
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |