Effects of Severe Mental Illness Education on MSW Student Attitudes about Schizophrenia

Abstract

Social work students (N=60) in a master's-level course on severe mental illness participated in a quasi- experimental study examining the degree to which increased knowledge about and contact with individuals with schizophrenia during the course would impact their attitudes toward people with the disorder. Results revealed significant improvement in student knowledge and general attitudes after the course and indicated that increased knowledge about schizophrenia was only related to general attitudinal improvement when accompanied by increased personal social contact. Implications for education on severe mental illnesses and value and attitude development in social work education are discussed.