Contact with the Mentally Ill and Perceptions of How Dangerous They Are

Abstract

Jones et al. (1984) proposes that contact between a marked and an unmarked person will modifr the preconceptions each has about the stigmatized condition and about its impact on subsequent social interaction. To test this notion, wee used two general population samples-one drawn from Macomb, Illinois (N= 153) and the other from Cincinnati, Ohio (N= 152)-and found a statisticallv significant inverse association between contact with mental patients' perceptions of how dangerous they are. We find that increased contact is associated with reduced fear among the old and the young, the educated and the less educated, and males and females. Two explanations are possible: (1) contact reduces fear; or (2) perceptions of danger influence the extent to which individuals interact with the mentallY ill. We showt that when contact is generated by external circumstances so that pre-existing attitudes are unlikely to have brought it on, contact is associated wi'ith reduced fear. We interpret this as consistent wi'ith the conceptual scheme offered by Jones et al. The implications are optimistic in that former patients maY be able to influence attitudes of those theY interact with. We note, however, changing others' attitudes maY prove problematic in a number of wa'ays for former patients. Finally we indicate some possible policy implications that our results suggest.