Attitudes of community-living staff members toward persons with mental retardation, mental illness, and dual diagnosis.

Attitudes of 340 staff members in 120 community living programs for people with mental retardation, mental illness, and dual diagnosis and a comparison sample of 152 community members were assessed using the Community Living Attitudes Scale, a measure of attitudes toward inclusion. Results showed that community agency supervisory and managerial staff held more favorable attitudes toward community living philosophy. Community support staff who worked with people who have mental retardation saw that population as less similar to other people than did the comparison sample and were less likely to endorse exclusion of persons with mental retardation than were those in the comparison sample. Retrospective analyses showed that training in inclusion philosophy was related to more inclusive, empowering attitudes among staff members.