Most of the research and attention is on mental health patients as the offender of homicide. However, the risk of being the victim of homicide is an increased risk for mental health patients as well. In fact, the risk is seven times higher. One of the possible reasons for this is that people with mental health problems are more likely to live in deprived areas, which come with higher homicide rates (Crump et al 2011). The perception that they are dangerous or vulnerable could help with the victimisation as well (Choe, Teplin, Abram 2008). According to the report of Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center 25 to 50 percent of the police shootings involve a person who is mentally ill (Fuller et al. 2015). Take Alfred Olango, a mentally ill man,
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When they arrived the man refused to follow the instructions of the police men and pulled an e-cigarette out of his pocket, holding it in a ‘shooting’ stance. (Cook 2016). Most police men are not trained enough for situations that involve mental health in the United States (Fuller et al. 2015). The police of the United Kingdom have a police and mental health manual that launched in 2010 (Cole and Huish 2013). However, 25% of the police shootings’ victims in the UK are still people suffering from a mentally disorder (BBC 2016). In the end, in the US, people with a mental disorder are 16 times more likely to get killed by the police than a person without a mental disorder. The lack of recording the shootings, especially the ones involving mental health, negatively influence the insufficient training of not only the police in the US (Fuller et al. …show more content…
Together with schizophrenia and depression, anxiety disorder is seen as unpredictable and sometimes even dangerous by the general public. Although most people’s intentions are pro-social, the feelings of fear, uneasiness and the desire for (social) distance may increase the risk of victimisation (Crump et al. 2013). This can be seen in the shooting of David McCrary, a mentally ill man. He intruded a woman’s house and was looking confused when the woman came home with her 2 children. She was armed with a handgun and shot David. He ended up dying of the single shot wound. He was acting in a way that would be seen as abnormal, which makes people uneasy and skittish (Cowley 2016, Crump et al.
When they arrived the man refused to follow the instructions of the police men and pulled an e-cigarette out of his pocket, holding it in a ‘shooting’ stance. (Cook 2016). Most police men are not trained enough for situations that involve mental health in the United States (Fuller et al. 2015). The police of the United Kingdom have a police and mental health manual that launched in 2010 (Cole and Huish 2013). However, 25% of the police shootings’ victims in the UK are still people suffering from a mentally disorder (BBC 2016). In the end, in the US, people with a mental disorder are 16 times more likely to get killed by the police than a person without a mental disorder. The lack of recording the shootings, especially the ones involving mental health, negatively influence the insufficient training of not only the police in the US (Fuller et al. …show more content…
Together with schizophrenia and depression, anxiety disorder is seen as unpredictable and sometimes even dangerous by the general public. Although most people’s intentions are pro-social, the feelings of fear, uneasiness and the desire for (social) distance may increase the risk of victimisation (Crump et al. 2013). This can be seen in the shooting of David McCrary, a mentally ill man. He intruded a woman’s house and was looking confused when the woman came home with her 2 children. She was armed with a handgun and shot David. He ended up dying of the single shot wound. He was acting in a way that would be seen as abnormal, which makes people uneasy and skittish (Cowley 2016, Crump et al.