Fear, prejudice, and neglect: Discrimination against mentally disabled persons.

Historically, the law has directly discriminated against mentally disabled persons and has failed to protect them from discrimination by private parties. Despite the arguments of the American Psychological Association and other mental health organizations, the Supreme Court has refused to consider state-sanctioned discrimination on the basis of mental disability as requiring a higher level of judicial scrutiny to ensure that it is related to important governmental objectives. Without such scrutiny, policy decisions based on prejudice and fear may jeopardize fair and humane treatment of mentally disabled persons in community and institutional settings. Such inadequate legal protection for mentally disabled persons heightens the significance of the professional responsibility of psychologists and other mental health professionals to promote respect for the personal autonomy of their clients and to strive to preserve their clients' constitutional rights of due process and equal protection under the law. To further legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of mentally disabled persons, an overview of existing federal antidiscrimination statutes is provided, along with a discussion of more recent legislation granting mentally disabled persons affirmative rights in a variety of contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Important implications for psychologists of the Americans with Disabilities Act: Case in point, the patient who is deaf.

Increased implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which empowered persons who have disabilities, has begun in earnest with recent federal court action. Three legal opinions have far-reaching implications for psychologists whose practices include disabled clients. These implications are especially true for those psychologists who are most likely to work at least occasionally with deaf, hard-of-hearing, or otherwise disabled individuals. However, ADA court decisions also apply to psychologists in group practices and managed care corporations. In this article, these legal opinions are reviewed. The authors consider the implications of the decisions on psychologist practitioners, with special emphasis on their legal responsibilities to deaf clients and on liability and related malpractice concerns. The authors also consider the profound impact of these decisions on deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in need of psychological services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of psychologists' education, knowledge, and experience treating clients with HIV/AIDS.

Practicing psychologists are providing services to persons with HIV infection and those at-risk for AIDS. However, most practitioners have not received formal training about HIV/AIDS. In this study, the majority of psychologists surveyed had treated persons at-risk for the virus but had not received HIV/AIDS information in formal educational programs. Most respondents obtained knowledge through popular media. There is a growing body of specialized knowledge about HIV/AIDS for mental health professionals. In addition to better serving HIV-infected clients, psychologists with current multidisciplinary HIV/AIDS knowledge will be valuable members of health care teams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifying responsive inner-city policemen.

Assessed police responsiveness using a technique that identified positive and negative attitudes of policemen toward inner-city residents. Ss were 30 policemen who scored most negatively and 32 who scored most positively on a 4-scale questionnaire (Policemen's View of Citizens' Support, General Faith in People, Police Fear of Citizens or Police Defensive Posture, and Police Stereotype of Poor People). Analysis of some demographic characteristics of the most positive (responsive) and most negative (nonresponsive) groups revealed that race was the most important distinguishing variable between them. Evaluations of the behavior of these officers by their immediate superiors supported the assumption that police in the positive group are rated higher than those in the negative group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural commitment and attitudes toward seeking counseling services in American Indian college students.

Counseling attitudes were assessed for American Indian college students rating themselves as either strongly or weakly committed to both Tribal and Anglo cultures. Participants strongly committed only to Tribal culture displayed more negative attitudes toward seeking counseling, recognizing a personal need for counseling, having confidence in mental health professionals, and interpersonal openness than those strongly committed only to the Anglo culture or to both cultures. Strongly committed participants demonstrated more negative attitudes toward interpersonal openness than those weakly committed to both cultures. Women showed more positive attitudes toward these issues than did men. It is recommended that counselors consider cultural commitment in understanding the hesitancy among potential American Indian clients to use conventional psychological services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes of psychologists in training toward persons with AIDS.

Clinical and counseling graduate students (N?=?266) from 8 different universities read a vignette that described a hypothetical patient as having either AIDS or leukemia. These psychologists in training then completed a scale that measured attitudes toward the hypothetical patient. Results indicated that psychologists in training had some attitudes toward AIDS patients that were less positive than their attitudes toward identically described leukemia patients. However, psychologists in training were more willing to interact with AIDS patients and to accept them as psychotherapy clients than were psychologists studied in earlier research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' Clinical Evaluations and Attitudes: An Examination of the Influence of Gender and Sexual Orientation.

Becoming aware of factors that may affect differential treatment of clients is necessary for psychologists to practice competently. Scholarly writing and empirical studies have suggested that therapist gender, client gender, and client sexual orientation are 3 such factors. This study examined therapist gender, client gender, and client sexual orientation in relation to psychologists' attitudes and clinical evaluations for clients. Results indicated that female psychologists held more positive attitudes and treatment expectations for clients than did male psychologists and that some psychologists hold inconsistent attitudes toward female clients generally and lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients in particular. Continuing education and consultation are recommended to increase psychologists' awareness of gender and sexual orientation issues and potential influences in treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes of health care providers and students towards tattooed people

Attitudes of health care providers and medical and nursing students (n = 513) towards tattooed adults and adolescents were examined. No respondent group had mean scores reflecting a positive attitude towards tattooed persons. Overall, physicians (MDs) and registered nurses (RNs) rated tattooed people less positively than did students. Womens' attitudes were consistently less favourable than those of men, especially towards tattooed professional women. Attitudes towards tattooed adolescents were generally less positive than attitudes towards the adult groups. Research has found that negative attitudes impact patient care. This study suggests that tattooed persons, especially adolescents, may be at risk of being negatively perceived when they seek health care. Increased efforts are needed to assure that those with tattoos receive non-judgemental and sensitive care.     

Ethical issues in the treatment of weight-dissatisfied clients.

A number of ethical issues must be considered in the treatment of clients who are dissatisfied with their weight. Current societal attitudes of opprobrium toward fat affect psychologists as well as the general public, and may have deleterious effects on the ability to provide competent, responsible, and respectful help to large clients, particularly women. Psychologists should be aware that weight status has a large biogenetic component and that dieting is remarkedly ineffective in producing long-term weight loss. Professionals tend to overestimate the harmful effects of obesity and underestimate the negative impact of dieting on physical and psychological functioning. It is proposed that psychologists accept diversity of body size as a manifestation of human differences, promote overall health over thinness, and help clients become self-accepting instead of self-depriving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of severe disability.

Reviews the book, Handbook of severe disability by W. Stolov and M. Clowers (1981). This book has many strengths that make it a mandatory reference manual for professionals who work with individuals with severe illness and disability. First, the chapters have been written by highly regarded professionals who have clinical and research experience with the disability group about which they write. Thus there is an understanding of the scope of the rehabilitation problem and a commitment to the disability group in question that is apparent in the manner in which the chapters have been written. Second, the scope of the book makes it a useful reference tool for those who work in rehabilitation settings that serve clients with a variety of disabilities. Third, the price of the book is less than $20, which makes it affordable by those who need the information most. Any psychologist who works with a variety of severely disabled persons should be familiar with the information contained in this book. Ordinarily this takes years of on-the-job experience and reading. Thus this book can shorten the learning period considerably. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes of U.S. and Czech/Slovak mental health and health professionals toward five types of sexually explicit materials

Mental health and health professionals' attitudes toward sexually explicit materials in the U.S. and Czech/Slovak Republics were investigated. An instrument measuring attitudes toward educational, soft-core, hard-core, violence, and bizarre/paraphiliac sexually explicit materials was administered to sexologists, psychologist/counselors, and medical professionals. These professionals were attending conferences in the U.S. and the Czech/Slovak Republics between November 1992 and September 1993. Mental health and health professionals had the most favorable attitudes toward educational sexually explicit materials followed by soft-core and hard-core materials, respectively. They had unfavorable attitudes toward violent and bizarre/paraphiliac sexually explicit materials, with particularly negative attitudes toward violent materials. Analysis of covariance showed that strength of religious conviction was a significant covariate; thus professionals with stronger religious conviction had more negative attitudes toward all five types of sexually explicit materials. When controlling for strength of religious conviction: (i) sexologists had more positive attitudes toward most types of sexually explicit materials; (ii) Czech professionals generally had more positive attitudes toward such materials than their U.S. counterparts; and (iii) there were few differences between female and male professionals in their reported attitudes. While previous literature has reported gender differences in attitudes toward sexually explicit materials, findings from this study suggest that this effect may be due to differences in religiosity among women and men, namely, that women tend to be more religious.     

Attitudes toward employment testing: Scale development, correlates, and "known-group" validation.

We identified one global evaluative measure that did not vary by sex, age, education, or occupation subgroup. More positive attitudes were associated with the participants' being told how the tests related to job performance and being given feedback on test performance. According to a "known-groups" validation, persons failing tests and not receiving a job had more negative attitudes than those who passed and were awarded a job. Among persons who passed, there were no differences between those who had not been awarded the job and those who had. Ethical, practical, and theoretical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinician's reactions to depressive behavior and ill health.

Psychotherapists are susceptible to prevailing negative stereotypes that exist in society at large. Inappropriate negative attitudes toward depressed and ill patients can adversely affect interactions with such clients. The authors examined the reactions of 410 psychologists to vignettes that described a client who emitted either depressed or nondepressed behavior and who varied in terms of cancer prognosis. Clinicians had negative mood reactions after reading the vignette of the depressed client; they also believed the depressed client possessed many undesirable personal attributes. Practicing psychologists are urged to reflect on their attitudes and beliefs so they do not negatively affect assessment and therapy services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social and interpersonal reactions to depression and disability.

Studied the reactions of 167 undergraduates to a 21-yr-old male actor with a physical disability who behaved in either a depressed or socially appropriate manner in an interview and appeared to be either physically disabled or nondisabled. Consistent with predictions, the actor was rated more favorably when he appeared disabled, and Ss had strong negative reactions to depressive behavior regardless of physical appearance. S attitudes toward persons with disability were affected by the interpersonal behavior of the target: Ss evidenced more open, accepting attitudes toward persons with disability after viewing appropriate behavior by the actor, and Ss in the depressed disabled condition endorsed more stereotypic, negative attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of "kindness norm" behavior and social models of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current trends in the involuntary civil commitment of mentally disabled persons.

Explores recent developments in involuntary civil commitment and the legal and psychosocial process whereby persons alleged to be mentally ill and dangerous are involuntarily hospitalized. Highlighted are current trends toward cooperation among lawyers and mental health professionals and toward an avoidance of formal procedures in commitment proceedings. It is concluded that psychologists need to assume a greater role in this process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To use or not to use: Clinicians' perceptions of telemental health.

Equal access to mental health services is necessary for healthy individuals and communities. However, due to geographical distances and other barriers, some clients cannot easily access mental health professionals. Technologies such as videoconferencing for clinical purposes (i.e., telemental health) may help to bridge these gaps to connect clients and clinicians at geographically diverse locations. However, despite its potential utility, telemental health has not been widely adopted in Canada. This study is an exploratory investigation into mental health professionals' attitudes toward telemental health, factors that affect the frequency with which they use this technology, and their perceptions of individual characteristics that make clients more or less suitable candidates for telemental health. This study has a particular focus on remote and rural and Operational Stress Injury (OSI) contexts. One hundred sixty mental health workers across Canada participated in an online survey, and 25 mental health workers from Operational Stress Injury clinics across Canada participated in in-person interviews. The data were examined using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Findings suggest that mental health workers have overall positive attitudes toward the use of telemental health—particularly for clients in remote and rural locations. Additionally, receiving training in telemental health, being in the mental health field for longer, and perceiving the technology as easy to use are associated with more frequent use of telemental health. Finally, clinicians reported specific client characteristics that they perceive to make some clients unsuitable candidates for telemental health. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists reflect on their sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students: Occurrence, impact, rationales and collegial intervention.

Practicing psychologists who engaged in prohibited sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students reflected on the impact, circumstances, and rationales associated with engaging in such relationships. Of the sample, 3.5% reported such relationships; 84% were male psychologists, and the majority of the relationships were with female clients after the therapist-client relationship ended. There was considerable variability in the evaluation of such relationships, with retrospective reflections being less positive. The majority of psychologists reported a significant impact on their professional work and identified personal vulnerabilities that contributed to developing such relationships. Collegial intervention was universally viewed as valuable. Professional implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge of and compliance with privileged communication and child-abuse- reporting laws.

Mental health practitioners have been criticized for possessing less than adequate knowledge of their legal obligations. An exploratory survey involving 98 respondents was conducted to assess whether this criticism was justified. Results show that a significant proportion of psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers are unaware of 2 of the most basic laws that apply to their professions: the right of privileged communications and the requirement of reporting child abuse. With regard to the latter, it is shown that even among those practitioners who are aware of it, a majority still refuse to comply with it in a hypothetical case. This survey suggests that a significant proportion of mental health professionals are either ignorant of or ignore their legal obligations. The pressing need for more adequate graduate and continuing professional training in these matters is emphasized. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beliefs about the helpfulness of interventions for mental disorders: a comparison of general practitioners, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess health professionals' beliefs about the helpfulness of a broad range of possible interventions for mental disorders. METHOD: The study involved a postal survey of 872 general practitioners (GPs), 1128 psychiatrists and 454 clinical psychologists. These health practitioners were presented with a vignette describing either a person with schizophrenia or one with depression. The vignettes were taken from an earlier survey of the general public. Respondents were asked to rate the likely helpfulness of various types of professional and non-professional help and of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. RESULTS: Two-thirds or more of each profession agreed that the person with schizophrenia would be helped by GPs, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, antipsychotic agents and admission to a psychiatric ward. Similarly, two-thirds agreed that the person with depression would be helped by GPs, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, antidepressants, counselling and cognitive-behavioural therapy. However, there were also areas of disagreement. Psychiatrists were less likely than GPs and clinical psychologists to rate psychological and lifestyle interventions as helpful, while clinical psychologists were less likely to rate specifically medical interventions as helpful. Younger members of the professional groups and female members (who also tended to be younger) tended to rate a wider range of interventions for each disorder as likely to be helpful. CONCLUSIONS: Despite areas of broad agreement about treatment, health practitioners were more likely to endorse the interventions associated with their own profession. However, younger members of each profession tended take a broader view. If these age differences represent a cohort effect, health professionals may in the future show greater acceptance of the helpfulness of interventions offered outside their profession. These conclusions are limited by the methodology of the survey, which involved a questionnaire designed for the public rather than professionals.