Student Perceptions of Persons With Psychiatric and Other Disorders

Policy shzlis toward/ostering community inclusion 0/ persons [/lith disahilities have brought community alli­ tudes (including artftudes ofp ro{essiona Is) into sharp­ erfocus as a cause/or concern. Using a social dis­ tance scale, this study examined the attitudes of cohorts ofoccupational therapy and business students toward persons with ps)!chiatric and other disorders. Contrar)' to expectations, occupational therapy sen­ iors did not demonstrate significantlv d~lJerent alli­ tudes from occupational therapy freshmen Although ji'eshman occupational therapy students e.Apressed a desire to maintain less social distance Ji'om persons with {)arious disabilities than didfreshman bu.siness students, there was nonetheless a hierarch1' ofpre{er­ ence for persons with certain disabilities ouer others. This order o.{preference had onl1' weak stability be­ tween cohorts, with persons with psvchiatric disabil­ ities consistentlv ranking among the least fauored it is proposed that occupational therapy curricula attend to students' attitudes toward persons witb psychiatric and other disabilities. To this end, certain strategies to enrich students' education are suggested.