TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Youths' and young adults' experiences of police involvement during initiation of involuntary psychiatric holds and transport
JO  - Psychiatric services
A1  - Jones, Nev
A1  - Gius, Becky
A1  - Shields, Morgan
A1  - Florence, Ana
A1  - Collings, Shira
A1  - Green, Kelly
A1  - Watson, Amy
A1  - Munson, Michelle
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Over the past decade, police involvement in behavioral health crisis response has generated concern and controversy. Despite the salience and timeliness of this topic, the literature on service user experiences of interactions with officers is small and studies of youths and young adults are nonexistent. The authors aimed to investigate youths' and young adults' experiences of police involvement in involuntary psychiatric hold initiation and transport. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 participants (ages 16-27) who had experienced an involuntary hold; the 28 participants who reported police involvement are the focus of this analysis. Data were inductively coded, and codes were grouped into larger themes. A majority of participants reported negative experiences; major themes characterizing negative encounters were the framing of distress as criminal or of intervention as disciplinary rather than therapeutic, perceived aggression and callousness from police officers, and poor communication. The authors also characterized the positive experiences of officer involvement reported by a minority of participants and youths' perspectives on the degree of control officers could exert over initiation and transport decisions. <br><br>FINDINGS help center the voices of youths and young adults with mental health challenges and raise important questions about contemporary policies regarding police involvement in crisis response and, more broadly, about coercive responses to distress or emotional crisis.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1075-2730
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202100263
ID  - ref1
ER  -