Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Preliminary Evidence of Effects of Crisis Intervention Team Training on Self-Efficacy and Social Distance

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program is a collaborative model involving mental health professionals and law enforcement officers that is being implemented in a multitude of localities across the country. This study had two main objectives: (1) To assess perceptions of self-efficacy and desired social distance of control officers and officers entering CIT training with regard to individuals with psychiatric syndromes (depression and schizophrenia) and individuals with substance dependence (alcohol and cocaine), and (2) To examine the effects, if any, of CIT training on self-efficacy and social distance. Methods Between March and July 2006, a survey was administered to 34 control police officers, 58 officers just before a 40-h CIT training program, and 40 of these officers upon completion of the training. Results At baseline, pre-CIT officers did not differ from control non-CIT officers in terms of self-efficacy or social distance relating to the four disorders. Officers trained in CIT demonstrated enhanced self-efficacy for interacting with individuals with depression, cocaine dependence, schizophrenia, and alcohol dependence. Additionally, CIT-trained officers reported reduced social distance regarding individuals with these four psychiatric conditions. Regarding the schizophrenia vignette, there was a significant interaction between pre-CIT/post-CIT status and family history of psychiatric treatment in the prediction of social distance. Conclusions Enhancements in self-efficacy and reductions in social distance may have important implications in terms of improving officers’ interactions with people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Given the importance of the problem of law enforcement/criminal justice involvement among people with such illnesses, and the dearth of research on this growing collaborative service model, further research is needed on officer-level outcomes of the CIT program.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychology Reviews, 84, 191–215.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1982). Self efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37, 122–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogardus, E. S. (1925). Measuring social distances. Journal of Applied Sociology, 9, 299–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bower, D. L., & Pettit, W. G. (2001). The Albuquerque police department’s crisis intervention team: A report card. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 70, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compton, M. T., Bahora, M., Watson, A. C., & Oliva, J. (2007). A comprehensive review of extant research on Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) programs. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (in press).

  • Compton, M. T., Esterberg, M. L., McGee, R. et al. (2006). Crisis intervention team training: Changes in knowledge, attitudes, and stigma related to schizophrenia. Psychiatric Services, 57, 1199–1202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont, R., & Cochran, S. (2000). Police response to mental health emergencies—barriers to change. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 28, 338–344.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Lewis, F. M. (2002). Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (6th ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinrichs, M., Wagner, D., Schoch, W., Soravia, L. M., Hellhammer, D. H., & Ehlert, U. (2005). Predicting posttraumatic stress symptoms from pretraumatic risk factors: A 2-year prospective follow-up study in firefighters. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 2276–2286.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., Phelan, J. C., Bresnahan, M. et al. (1999). Public conceptions of mental illness: Labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 1328–1333.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., Yang, L. H., Phelan, J. C., & Collins, P. Y. (2004). Measuring mental illness stigma. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 30, 511–541.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oliva, J. R., & Compton, M. T. (2007). A statewide crisis intervention team (CIT) initiative: Evolution of the Georgia CIT program. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (in press).

  • Park, R. E. (1924). The concept of social distance. Journal of Applied Sociology, 8, 339–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pillai, R., & Williams, E. A. (2004). Transformational leadership, self-efficacy, group cohesiveness, commitment, and performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17, 144–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regehr, C., Hill, J., & Glancy, G. D. (2000). Individual predictors of traumatic reactions in firefighters. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 188, 333–339.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman, H. J., Deane, M. W., Borum, R. et al. (2000). Comparing outcomes of major models of police responses to mental health emergencies. Psychiatric Services, 51, 645–649.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael T. Compton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bahora, M., Hanafi, S., Chien, V.H. et al. Preliminary Evidence of Effects of Crisis Intervention Team Training on Self-Efficacy and Social Distance. Adm Policy Ment Health 35, 159–167 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0153-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0153-8

Keywords

Navigation