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A study on the knowledge and skills of police officers in handling mentally ill persons in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

The dissertation argues that police officers are not trained in handling mentally ill persons. Purpose The study explored police officers‟ knowledge of mental illness and skills necessary for handling mentally ill people. Research methods The descriptive quantitative investigation has been used as a research strategy to identify the knowledge and skills of police officers in handling mentally ill persons. Forty five police officers were randomly selected from a population of 136 police officers. A self administered questionnaire was used for collecting data. Data analysis was done manually and frequency distributions, cross-tabulations and correlations were carried out. Results The findings revealed that police officers do not have knowledge and skills to handle mentally ill people. Recommendations It is recommended that mental health care practitioners should engage the police in discussions on training in handling mentally ill people. iv Limitations Due to time and budgetary limitations, the study had to settle for a more modest investigation

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufh/vital:11902
Date January 2009
CreatorsKolwapi, Xola Xolani
PublisherUniversity of Fort Hare, Faculty of Science & Agriculture
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, MSc (Nursing Science)
Format106 leaves; 30 cm, pdf
RightsUniversity of Fort Hare, University of Fort Hare

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