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Park: Attitudes Toward the Dangerousness of the Mentally Ill
Original Article

Korean J Schizophr Res 2015;18(1):16-20.

Published online: 17 January 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.16946/kjsr.2015.18.1.16

Attitudes Toward the Dangerousness of the Mentally Ill

Jisun Park, PhD

Department of Social Psychology, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Korea

Address for correspondence: Jisun Park, Department of Social Psychology, Sookmyung Women's University, 100 Chungpa-ro 47-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-742, Korea Tel: 02-2077-7832, Fax: 0303-0799-0397 E-mail: jsirispark@hotmail.com

      Revised 19 January 201510 March 2015       Accepted 15 March 2015

Copyright © 2015 Korean Society for Schizophrenia Research

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of the present study is to investigate the attitudes of people toward the dangerousness of the mentally ill. The study eventually aims to contribute to developing strategies for reducing prejudice against people with mental illness.

Methods

A total of 358 college students participated in the study. A 6-item questionnaire was administered to examine attitudes toward the dangerousness of the mentally ill, with Belief in a Just World Scale. Then, attitudes toward crime committed by patients with different types of mental illness (Schizophrenia, Depressive disorder, Bipolar disorder, Panic disorder, PTSD, Dementia, ADHD, and Mental Retardation) were assessed.

Results

People strongly believed that most of the crime by the mentally ill was committed on the spur of the moment, and that crime of the mentally ill had recently increased. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between prejudice against the dangerousness of the mentally ill and just-world beliefs. In addition, patients with Schizophrenia were assessed to be the most dangerous out of 8 different types of mental illness.

Conclusion

There exists considerable prejudices against the dangerousness of the mentally ill, especially those with schizophrenia. The present findings emphasize the urgent need to clarify misunderstandings regarding the dangerousness of the mentally ill.

Keywords: Crime, Mentally ill, Schizophrenia, Dangerousness, Just-World Beliefs

REFERENCES

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Table 1.
Attitudes toward the dangerousness of the mentally ill
Attitudes N M SD
A1 : recent increase 358 4.60 1.72
A2 : cruelty 358 3.95 1.67
A3 : impulsiveness 358 4.66 1.54
A4 : violence 358 3.82 1.56
A5 : prone to crime 358 3.80 1.78
A6 : crime rate 358 3.48 1.81
Table 2.
Correlations between age and attitude
r p-value N
A1 : recent increase 0.168∗∗ 0.002 349
A2 : cruelty 0.176∗∗ 0.001 349
A3 : impulsiveness -0.027 0.609 349
A4 : violence 0.134∗ 0.012 349
A5 : prone to crime 0.08 0.138 349
A6 : crime rate 0.05 0.354 349
Table 3.
Correlations between Just-World Beliefs and attitudes
r p-value N
A1 : recent increase 0.148∗∗ 0.005 352
A2 : cruelty 0.137∗∗ 0.010 352
A3 : impulsiveness 0.132∗ 0.013 352
A4 : violence 0.041 0.447 352
A5 : prone to crime 0.156∗∗ 0.003 352
A6 : crime rate 0.155∗∗ 0.004 352
Table 4.
Attitude toward crime of the mentally ill
N M SD
Schizophrenia 358 5.31 1.49
Depressive 358 4.08 1.609
Bipolar 358 4.23 1.499
Panic 358 2.55 1.393
PTSD 358 3.13 1.472
Dementia 358 2.46 1.441
ADHD 358 3.71 1.641
Mental retardation 358 2.52 1.313
Table 5.
Correlations between age and attitude toward crime by he mentally ill
r p-value N
Schizophrenia -0.022 0.677 349
Depressive 0.055 0.308 349
Bipolar -0.065 0.225 349
Panic -0.143∗∗ 0.008 349
PTSD -0.115∗ 0.032 349
Dementia -0.138∗∗ 0.010 349
ADHD -0.078 0.148 349
Mental retardation -0.152∗∗ 0.005 349
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