Clinical psychologist in the vanguard: Current attitudes toward mental illness.

To determine the current degree of acceptance of an antimedical approach to mental illness, a survey was conducted of attitudes toward mental illness among various mental health professionals (20 psychiatrists, 23 psychiatric nurses, 16 psychologists, and 25 social workers) and mental patients (41 outpatients with a history of psychiatric hospitalization and 20 outpatients with no similar history) in a community mental health center. Responding to 6 statements reflecting attitudes toward the traditional medical model, clinical psychologists showed greater acceptance of the antimedical paradigm than did psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, psychiatric nurses, and psychiatric outpatients. Several explanations are offered as to why clinical psychologists appear to be in the vanguard of those adopting a critical, antimedical stance within the clinical arena. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)