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Beliefs about Causes of Schizophrenia among Police Officers Before and After Crisis Intervention Team Training

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Abstract

This study examined the ways in which beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia change after crisis intervention team (CIT) training of police officers. Comparisons of pre- and post-training scores from 159 officers revealed a decrease in endorsement of items pertaining to personal/family/social stressors and items inconsistent with contemporary conceptions of risk, as well as an increase in endorsement of items consistent with modern biological conceptions of the causation of schizophrenia. Changes in causal beliefs were associated with personal and family history of psychiatric treatment among officers. Findings indicate a need for further research in this area, and suggest that some characteristics of officers may be associated with an increased capacity for knowledge/attitudinal change during CIT training.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Berivan Demir

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 49 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive, S.E., Room #333, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA

    Beth Broussard, Sandra M. Goulding & Michael T. Compton

Authors
  1. Berivan Demir
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  2. Beth Broussard
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  3. Sandra M. Goulding
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  4. Michael T. Compton
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Correspondence to Michael T. Compton.

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Demir, B., Broussard, B., Goulding, S.M. et al. Beliefs about Causes of Schizophrenia among Police Officers Before and After Crisis Intervention Team Training. Community Ment Health J 45, 385–392 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9194-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9194-7

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