Race, Severe Mental Illness, and Crime: An Intersectional Look Into Stigma and Policy Implications

Criminal behavior has been a long-discussed topic in the United States and often is tied to characteristics such as race and mental illness. The presumed connection between criminal behavior and being a member of a racial minority group or having a mental illness have been researched for years, however few researchers have sought to take an intersectional approach to investigate the unique experiences of people belonging to both groups in the criminal legal system. Using the lenses of attribution and intersectionality theories, the proposed studies sought to understand the effect of race that influences policy support of justice-involved people with mental illness using participants gathered from Amazon’s CloudResearch platform. The study found that participants were significantly more likely to support rehabilitative correctional policies as compared to punitive policies, no matter the vignette information they were shown. However, attitudes about these groups of people and the police drove money allocation patterns. Mutability of justice-involved people, attitudes towards mental illness and support of the Defund the Police movement were some of the most notable. Though, these patters were not always in the direction expected; individuals who were not supportive of the Defund the Police movement, but saw the Black, violent vignette were much more likely to allocate money to mental health services as compared to correctional facilities or the police. The results suggests that there may be an element of social desirability in the participants, or it may be a demonstration of people overcorrecting for historical biases against Black men. The results have implications for both policymakers and in research, including the need for further exploration into concern for minority groups in the context of the criminal justice system, and the identification of areas that would benefit from educational interventions to reduce the discrepancies that are currently seen in the criminal justice system and offer more fair and just treatment

Mental Illness Labeling in Justice-Involved People

While it cannot be denied that there is a strong correlational relationship between justice-involvement and mental illness, research has demonstrated that severe mental illness is rarely the direct cause of criminal activity. However, stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness are often rooted in incorrect generalizations regarding the link between mental illness and unpredictable, dangerous behavior, which can be magnified by labels (e.g., “schizophrenic” or “criminal”). This reduction of a person to a label results in a number of negative outcomes, ranging from the prejudice and inequitable treatment one may experience from groups such as justice workers, police, and employers or landlords, to internalized stigma against oneself. A total of 242 participants recruited from Amazon’s CloudResearch platform were assigned to one of three information conditions (label of a disorder, symptom description and a combination) and shown a series of four vignettes reflecting Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar 1 Disorder, Schizophrenia and a control condition of a troubled person. Stigma was measured using the Social Distance Scale, the Perceived Dangerousness of Mental Patients Scale and a created measure of willingness to mandate treatment. Additionally, we added covariates to the model such as the level of contact participants have had with both people with severe mental illness or justice-involvement, the rating of those contacts and knowledge of mental illness. Findings indicate a difference in stigmatizing attitudes by disorder, with interaction effects of the type of information presented. Having positive prior contact with people in both groups tended to mitigate stigma ratings, as did a greater knowledge of mental illness

Mental Illness Labeling in Justice-Involved People

While it cannot be denied that there is a strong correlational relationship between justice-involvement and mental illness, research has demonstrated that severe mental illness is rarely the direct cause of criminal activity. However, stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness are often rooted in incorrect generalizations regarding the link between mental illness and unpredictable, dangerous behavior, which can be magnified by labels (e.g., schizophrenic or criminal ). This reduction of a person to a label results in a number of negative outcomes, ranging from the prejudice and inequitable treatment one may experience from groups such as justice workers, police, and employers or landlords, to internalized stigma against oneself. A total of 242 participants recruited from Amazon\u27s CloudResearch platform were assigned to one of three information conditions (label of a disorder, symptom description and a combination) and shown a series of four vignettes reflecting Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar 1 Disorder, Schizophrenia and a control condition of a troubled person. Stigma was measured using the Social Distance Scale, the Perceived Dangerousness of Mental Patients Scale and a created measure of willingness to mandate treatment. Additionally, we added covariates to the model such as the level of contact participants have had with both people with severe mental illness or justice-involvement, the rating of those contacts and knowledge of mental illness. Findings indicate a difference in stigmatizing attitudes by disorder, with interaction effects of the type of information presented. Having positive prior contact with people in both groups tended to mitigate stigma ratings, as did a greater knowledge of mental illness

Race, Severe Mental Illness, and Crime: An Intersectional Look into Stigma and Policy Implications

Criminal behavior has been a long-discussed topic in the United States and often is tied to characteristics such as race and mental illness. The presumed connection between criminal behavior and being a member of a racial minority group or having a mental illness have been researched for years, however few researchers have sought to take an intersectional approach to investigate the unique experiences of people belonging to both groups in the criminal legal system. Using the lenses of attribution and intersectionality theories, the proposed studies sought to understand the effect of race that influences policy support of justice-involved people with mental illness using participants gathered from Amazonâ??s CloudResearch platform. The study found that participants were significantly more likely to support rehabilitative correctional policies as compared to punitive policies, no matter the vignette information they were shown. However, attitudes about these groups of people and the police drove money allocation patterns. Mutability of justice-involved people, attitudes towards mental illness and support of the Defund the Police movement were some of the most notable. Though, these patters were not always in the direction expected; individuals who were not supportive of the Defund the Police movement, but saw the Black, violent vignette were much more likely to allocate money to mental health services as compared to correctional facilities or the police. The results suggests that there may be an element of social desirability in the participants, or it may be a demonstration of people overcorrecting for historical biases against Black men. The results have implications for both policymakers and in research, including the need for further exploration into concern for minority groups in the context of the criminal justice system, and the identification of areas that would benefit from educational interventions to reduce the discrepancies that are currently seen in the criminal justice system and offer more fair and just treatment