Police, Procedural Justice & Persons with Mental Illness

描述（由申请人提供）：最近的研究表明，高达10%的警察与公众接触涉及患有严重精神疾病的人。消费者如何看待他们与警察的互动，以及警官策略的变化在多大程度上影响消费者与警察当局的合作，这些都知之甚少。然而，对司法系统其他部门涉及的精神疾病患者经历的研究提供了一个有用的出发点。这些研究发现，当个人评价法律互动在程序正义方面很高时（感觉他们受到了公平和尊重）；他们报告说，感觉不那么受胁迫，更有可能与当局合作。本研究的目的是将程序正义理论应用于精神疾病患者与警察接触的经验和结果。在第一阶段，我们会与最近曾与警方接触的精神病患者进行质性访谈。这些资料将用于修改现有的程序正义和强制措施，并查明这些措施没有涉及到的经验方面。由此产生的措施将适用于与社区警察有过接触的150名精神疾病患者。我们将研究感知到的程序正义如何与精神疾病患者的合作以及接触的结果（如使用武力、逮捕和转介到精神卫生服务机构）相关。了解精神疾病患者如何经历和应对程序上公正和强制的遭遇，将为警察培训和干预提供信息，旨在改善遭遇执法的精神疾病患者的结果。这反过来可能会增加执法部门有效应对精神疾病患者的能力，减少官员受伤，改善公共安全。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent studies indicate that up to 10 % of police contacts with the public involve persons with a serious mental illness. Little is known about how consumers perceive their interactions with the police and to what extent variations in officer strategies influences consumer cooperation with police authorities. However, research on the experiences of persons with mental illness involved in other parts of the justice system provides a useful point of departure. These studies have found that when individuals evaluate a legal interaction as being high in procedural justice (feel they have been treated fairly and respectfully); they report feeling less coerced and are more likely to cooperate with authorities. The purpose of this study is to apply procedural justice theory to the experiences and outcomes related to police contacts among persons with mental illness. In the first phase, we will conduct qualitative interviews with persons with mental illness that have had recent contact with the police. This information will be used to modify existing measures of procedural justice and coercion and to identify dimensions of experience not tapped by the measures. The resulting measures will be administered to 150 persons with mental illness who have had contact with the police in their community. We will examine how perceived procedural justice is related to cooperation on the part of the person with mental illness and outcomes of the contact such as use of force, arrest, and referral to mental health services. Understanding how persons with mental illness experience and respond to procedurally just and coercive encounters will inform police training and interventions aimed at improving outcomes for persons with mental illness who encounter law enforcement. This in turn may increase law enforcements' ability to effectively respond to persons with mental illness, reduce officer injuries, and improve public safety.