Labels like schizophrenia sharply inflate perceived violence risk

Evidence

The public greatly overpredicts violence by the mentally ill. When individuals are asked to judge the violent proclivity of a person in a vignette, 61% rate the individual as likely violent if the person is dubbed a schizo-phrenic, but only 17% do so if the person is dubbed a troubled person (Pescosolido, Monahan, Link, Stueve, & Kikuzawa, 1999). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1275 (#expands, via linked claim)

Countless loners with bizarre beliefs do harbor resentments, but fortunately the vast majority conduct their lives as best they can without acting on those beliefs. However, some who lead bleak, despondent lives with festering grievances, conspiratorial attributions for their personal failures, and radical ideological beliefs can be provoked by precipitating events to act violently on their grievances. Whether or not disturbed individuals act violently will depend, in large part, on their self-regulatory ability to keep their psychological troubles in check. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1283 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Persian label triggers violence, not just stigma avoidance — Neda Maghbouleh, The Limits of Whiteness: Iranian…, 531; Simply labeling someone schizophrenic triples public estimates of their violence risk — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1275; Labels like ‘genocide’ actively shape perceptions and memory of violent events — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 281 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Simply labeling someone schizophrenic triples public estimates of their violence risk #expands (1.00) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1275
• Disturbed individuals’ violent action depends mainly on self-regulatory ability to contain grievances #complicates (0.72) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1283