Examination of factors that influence rural residents’ beliefs regarding the dangerousness of justice-involved persons with a mental illness

ABSTRACT

Barriers experienced by justice-involved persons with a mental illness are exacerbated by structural issues inherent to rural areas, such as limited employment, housing, and healthcare, making rural residents’ beliefs integral to re-entry success. Concerningly, what shapes rural residents’ beliefs is largely unexplored. This study examined what factors (sources, emotions, and familiarity) influenced 284 rural residents’ beliefs regarding the dangerousness of justice-involved persons with a mental illness. Rural residents were most influenced by friends and family. Approximately one-quarter were influenced by social media, one-fifth by the news, one-sixth by academia, and one-seventh by movies/TV. A factorial ANCOVA revealed that even when residents had familiarity with the stigmatized group, if they felt fear, they had significantly higher levels of stigmatizing beliefs regarding dangerousness of justice-involved persons with a mental illness. The relationship between familiarity and stigma may be U-shaped and depend on the emotions experienced during interpersonal interactions. The results suggest that familiarity alone may not reduce stigma. Rather, evoking sympathy may have stigma reducing potential. If family are experiencing negative emotionality, it may help to offer them support and empathy. Alternatively, peer specialists may serve as a substitute, artificially supplying the social capital necessary to assist with re-entry efforts.

KEYWORDS:

• Stigma
• mental illness
• emotions
• familiarity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend a thank you to the kind individuals (e.g., the county clerk) who assisted in helping reduce skepticism that emerged when we requested rural residents’ participation in the present study. These kind individuals assisted by vouching that the research was legitimate and distributing the survey to residents on the principal investigator’s behalf. The authors also wish to thank the rural residents who graciously took the time to participate in the present study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tamara Kang Balzarini

Tamara Kang is an assistant professor in the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her research focuses on re-entry barriers, rehabilitation and assessment for subgroups of justice-involved persons, and translation of research into practice.

Dowla Kuzmickus

Dowla Kuzmickus is a doctoral student in the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her research focuses on rehabilitation, re-entry, and psychopathy.

Ryan Nation

Ryan Nation is a doctoral student in the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. His research focuses on increased accessibility of science, opinion development, and social misperception.

Monique Swaby

Monique Swaby is a doctoral student in the School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her research focuses on barriers to re-entry, juvenile justice, and risk assessment.

Kieleha Ingram

Kieleha Ingram is a doctoral student in the School of Human Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her research focuses on re-entry, rehabilitation, health disparities, social determinants of health, decision-making, and juvenile substance abuse.