University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Assistant Professor Nev Jones’ new article “Youths’ and Young Adults’ Experiences of Police Involvement During Initiation of Involuntary Psychiatric Holds and Transport” was published in the journal, Psychiatric Services.
Recently, the Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movements have helped draw attention to the risks of police involvement in the context of mental health crises and nonviolent domestic disputes. Despite the timeliness of this topic, the literature on the police experiences about individuals with mental illness during crisis response is small and studies of youth and young adult perspectives essentially nonexistent. Lead author Dr. Jones and her co-investigators study is thus the first to explore youths’ and young adults’ first-hand experiences of police involvement in the context of mental health crisis response. A majority of young people reported negative experiences including the criminalization of emotional distress, perceived aggression and callousness from police officers, and poor communication. Simultaneously, the research team identified instances of positive police officer interactions, and, in general, many of the youth and young adults involved reported equally (or more) negative experiences of mental health providers, particularly in ERs and inpatient facilities. Participants themselves far more often identified their experiences of hospitalization as more traumatic than any other aspect of crisis response, including police interactions.
The findings reported in Dr. Jones’ article center the perspectives of youths and young adults with mental health challenges and highlight the ways in which police involvement may contribute to inappropriately criminalizing responses to youth mental health crises—responses that further stigmatize young people. Rather than construing police as the primary problem with status quo crisis response, however, the research team underscores the need for deeper examination and reconsideration of coercive practices across the board, and the need for work that centers more fundamental policy change.
“Ultimately,” Dr. Jones expands “what this work really speaks to is the need for the field to listen to and learn from individuals, in this case youth and young adults, directly impacted by mainstream crisis response policies and practices. Their narratives are complex, and strongly suggestive of the need for deeper, structural reforms, including potentially fundamental changes to mental health provider practices and attitudes, especially in inpatient settings. Police involvement appears to contribute to, but is by no means the cause of, perceived coercion, moral judgment and stigma in crisis response.”