Public Defender Attitudes Toward People With Mental Disorders: Does Mental Health Court Practice Reduce Stigma?

Abstract

This study investigated whether legal defense practice in mental health court reduced negative/stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs public defense attorneys may have toward people with mental disorders. The study hypothesized a lower level of negative/stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental disorders in the sample of public defenders who had practiced in mental health courts as compared to public defenders who had never practiced in mental health court. Attitudes were measured by scores on the Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill scale (“CAMI”) administered via an online survey. The survey also captured information about the participants’ demographic and professional characteristics. No significant difference in CAMI scores was found between public defenders with experience in mental health court and public defenders with no such experience. The data did show that respondents who had received a mental health diagnosis, and/or whose family, friends or colleagues had received such a diagnosis, had fewer negative/stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental disorders than respondents reporting no such mental health diagnosis. Similarly, respondents who had used mental health services of any kind, and/or whose family, friends or colleagues had used mental health services, also had fewer negative/stigmatizing attitudes. Female respondents had fewer negative/stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental disorders than male respondents. No other demographic, training or employment factor had a significant impact on CAMI scores.