Date of Award
2-8-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Criminology and Criminal Justice, MA
First Advisor
Sarah Kendig
Committee Members
Della Winters; Sarah Kendig; Selye Lee
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2021 B87
Abstract
The current study obtained information on how police officers handle and improve their knowledge with individuals with mental illness and how certain factors, such as community, media, and perceptions of law enforcement, are potentially associated with how law enforcement handles individuals with mental illness. It is important to capture the law enforcement perspective because some research suggests that officers arrest individuals with mental illness at a higher rate than those who do not. Twelve officers from three local departments in the South were interviewed, with two having issues with the budget for CIT training. Some officers increased their understanding of how to identify and interact with someone with mental illness, but there was the perception of some that they had to be on guard. Some of the officers’ communities had misconceptions and generational differences in interacting with those with mental illness. Media influence mostly had no influence on officers’ decisions.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Bustamante, Melissa L., "The Association Between Perceptions of Mental Illness and Law Enforcement’s Training and Treatment of Individuals with Mental Illness" (2022). Student Theses and Dissertations. 280.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/280
