Attitudes and beliefs of professionals within the English and Welsh criminal justice system towards people with mental health conditions: a systematic review

Introduction: Compared to the general population, a higher prevalence of people with mental health conditions are seen throughout the Criminal Justice System (CJS). It is important to understand the attitudes of professionals towards people with mental health conditions. Method: This systematic review aims to explore the attitudes and beliefs of professionals within the English and Welsh CJS towards people with mental health conditions, including beliefs about specific diagnoses and symptoms. Results: The review highlighted 14 quantitative papers from England and Wales. Research was narratively synthesised in relation to groups of police staff, prison staff, probation staff and legal staff. The primary evidence related to attitudes towards general mental health conditions and schizophrenia/psychosis in police staff, and personality disorder and self-harm in probation and prison staff. There was no evidence to suggest that any of these groups demonstrated grossly different attitudes towards mental health conditions compared to other populations, however robust comparisons were limited by methodological quality and breath of the research. Conclusion: The review highlights that more research is required to better understand attitudes and beliefs towards people with mental health conditions. The paper makes various suggestions for the improvement of methodological quality in primary research.