Community and Police Officer Attitudes Towards Offenders with Mental Health Conditions

Offenders with mental health conditions are often viewed as dangerous and unpredictable. However, there is a large amount of inconsistency reported in attitudes towards this group and little work has focused specifically on the attitudes between community members and police officers. Using a between-subjects design, the current study aimed to explore any differences in perceptions of offenders with mental health conditions in community members and police officers, and to examine if this was impacted upon by police officer experience and gender. The sample consisted of 138 community and police officer participants who completed the Police and Community Attitudes towards Offenders with Mental Illness Scale. A significant difference was found between groups in their attitudes of offenders with mental health conditions; community members were found to hold significantly more positive attitudes then police officers. Level of police officer experience and gender did not have a significant impact on attitudes towards offenders with mental health conditions. The results add to the mixed literature base but provides a fresh insight into current attitudes in the UK. This has implications for offenders with mental health conditions given that community members and police officers are pivotal in successful reintegration and criminal justice outcomes.