Martinaki S, Athanasiadis K, Gkontolia A, Karachaliou E, Karaiskos A, Sakellariou E, Tsiapla Th, Chatzinikolaou F
Faculty of Administrative, Economics and Social Sciences, Department of Social Work, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
1st Psychiatric Clinic - Eginitio Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2023;1425:1-11. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-31986-0_1.
Mentally ill offenders constitute a vulnerable population group with unique characteristics, and have endured multiple public stigmatizations, which has not been sufficiently studied. The purpose of this study was to capture attitudes of the public toward mentally ill offenders in relation to their perceptions of mental illness in general, as well as their degree of familiarity with it. Our sample of 2059 people can be overall described as a men preponderance, married, with mean value age of 26 years, higher educational level, and medium or higher socio-economic status. Participants completed the ATMIO, CAMI, and Familiarity scales online. The total familiarity index value with mental illness was found to be 4.88, which counts as moderate to low. It was also concluded that women and those with a high educational level sustained more positive attitudes toward mentally ill offenders. However, negative stereotypes (with a mean value of 26.20), stigmatizing attitudes related to risk in the community (mean 16.10), and reduced responsibility for actions (mean 9.45) were recorded, while some (mean 16.50) showed compassion and emphasized on the mentally ill need of rehabilitation. The youngest people were the ones who recorded the most absolute and harsh attitudes. These findings validate the need of raising awareness and informing, especially, the young public about issues of mental health, including the need to oppose prejudices with everyday measures, which can be accessible to the new generation. Besides, we should extend research to various professional groups that come in contact with mentally ill offenders in order to collect data, which could contribute for intervening policies and formulating different sets of strategies for those people.
患有精神疾病的罪犯是一个具有独特特征的弱势群体，他们遭受了多次公众污名化，但对此尚未进行充分研究。本研究的目的是了解公众对患有精神疾病的罪犯的态度，以及他们对精神疾病的总体认知和熟悉程度。我们的2059名样本总体上以男性居多，已婚，平均年龄26岁，教育水平较高，社会经济地位中等或更高。参与者在线完成了《对患有精神疾病罪犯的态度量表》（ATMIO）、《社区对精神疾病的态度量表》（CAMI）和《熟悉程度量表》。结果发现，对精神疾病的总体熟悉指数值为4.88，属于中低水平。研究还得出结论，女性和高学历者对患有精神疾病的罪犯持更积极的态度。然而，也记录到了负面刻板印象（平均值为26.20）、与社区风险相关的污名化态度（平均值为16.10）以及对行为责任的减轻（平均值为9.45），同时一些人（平均值为16.50）表现出同情心并强调了对患有精神疾病者的康复需求。最年轻的人群表现出的态度最为绝对和严厉。这些发现证实了提高认识并向公众尤其是年轻公众宣传心理健康问题的必要性，包括需要通过新一代能够采取的日常措施来反对偏见。此外，我们应该将研究扩展到与患有精神疾病的罪犯有接触的各种专业群体，以收集数据，这有助于制定干预政策并为这些人制定不同的策略。
