Attitude of Police Personnel towards People with Psychiatric Disorders: A Study in Gwalior City, Madhya Pradesh

The present study would help determine the propensity of police personnel to respond favorably or unfavorably towards people with mental illness, which would be helpful in improving their functioning for person with psychiatric illness. Study used cross-sectional descriptive study design and data were collected from 200 police personnel age ranged between 23 to 62 years, working in the Gwalior city of Madhya Pradesh with purposive sampling technique. Opinion about mental Illness scale for Chinese community scale (OMICC) was administered in the subjects. Result showed non-stigmatizing but pessimistic and prejudice attitude of police personnel for people with psychiatric illness. Awareness programme involving educational sessions are needed for police personnel to improve attitude towards people with mental illness.