Abstract
Programs to improve police interactions with persons with mental illness are being initiated across the country. In order to assess the impact of such interventions with this population, we must first understand the dimensions of how police encounters are experienced by consumers themselves. Using procedural justice theory as a sensitizing framework, we used in-depth semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of twenty persons with mental illness in 67 encounters with police. While participants came into contact with police in a variety of ways, two main themes emerged. First, they feel vulnerable and fearful of police, and second, the way police treated them mattered. Findings elaborate on dimensions of procedural justice theory and are informative for police practice and mental health services.
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Notes
Note, by “success” we do not intend to objectively favor a particular outcome of a police contact over another. Rather, in this paper we hope to understand the perspective of persons with mental illness.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grant number R21MH075786 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors would like to acknowledge the hard work of Melissa Cosgrove, MSW and Theresa Vidalon, MSW who assisted with the interviews and data coding. We are grateful to the staff and members at Thresholds, Inc. who welcomed us and allowed us to conduct interviews in their space.
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Watson, A.C., Angell, B., Morabito, M.S. et al. Defying Negative Expectations: Dimensions of Fair and Respectful Treatment by Police Officers as Perceived by People with Mental Illness. Adm Policy Ment Health 35, 449–457 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-008-0188-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-008-0188-5