Effects of didactic and experiental education of conceptions of persons with serious mental illness

Persons with serious mental illnesses (SMI) require sustained and comprehensive mental health services, yet there is a lack of mental health personnel interested in working with this population. This study examined how several identified barriers to the recruitment of workers, e.g., negative attitudes and feelings toward, and stereotypical beliefs about the personalities of persons with SMI were affected by classroom and in-vivo exposure to persons with SMI.;Undergraduate psychology students in an experiential learning course chose placements with persons with SMI (n = 13), or other populations (n = 24). Groups were compared before and after the course on four dimensions: Attitudes toward Mental Illness, Personality Conceptions of persons with SMI, Feelings about working with persons with SMI, and Career Interest in working with persons with SMI. Results showed the group with exposure became less socially restrictive in attitudes, and saw persons with SMI as having more self-control and less aggression than did the other group. All other comparisons were not different.;To clarify the results, identical data was collected from an upper-divisional psychology lecture course which had no placement, and from an introductory psychology class. At the beginning of the semester in which these courses were taken, the upperdivisional class was essentially equivalent to the experiential class, while the introductory students had less knowledge, more negative attitudes and more stereotypical beliefs about the personalities of people with SMI. Results from the scales and written feedback show the placement exposure allows students to clarify career ideas and to have more well-rounded views of people with serious mental illness, but that attitudes and personality conceptions do change and develop across the overall psychology curriculum. Implications for future research and undergraduate training programs are discussed.