Attitudes of the Israeli adolescent to the mentally ill and their treatment

This paper represents a cross section of an Israeli adolescent population as regards their attitudes to the mentally ill patient. More specifically the investigation applied to attitudes towards persons who had been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons and persons who had seen a psychologist in an ambulatory setting. In addition various demographic and other variables were examined as to their influence on these attitudes. The results clearly show that, despite a fairly 'liberal self image' Israeli adolescents are not, in general, prepared to accept intimate contact with the mentally ill. This is even more the case when the adolescent is: relatively uneducated; of oriental origin; identifies himself with religious tradition. Actual contact with a mental patient improves attitudes to the mentally ill but theoretical sophistication does not.