Opinions about mental illness held by personnel of a state psychiatric hospital and community mental health centers.

This was a study of opinions about mental illness among occupational groups from a state psychiatric hospital and community mental health centers. Data were collected with two combined opinions about mental illness scales. The sample consisted of 348 participants, including 227 hospital employees and 121 employees of community mental health centers. The results indicated that occupational groups of both the hospital and the community mental health centers were highly differentiated in their opinions about mental illness. Sharp differences were found between professional and nonprofessional staff, with the latter indicating a much stronger endorsement of Authoritarianism and Social Restrictiveness. The personnel of the community mental health centers were significantly less authoritarian and socially restrictive, and more acceptant of Mental Hygiene Ideology and Nontraditionalism than their hospital counterparts.