Investigation of self-stigmatization and perceptions towards delinguency in inpatient individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia in high-security forensic psychiatry settings in Turkiye

INTRODUCTION: Internalized stigmatization indicates the internal acceptance of public stigmatization. Double stigma refers to stigmatization due to more than one personality characteristic. We aimed to investigate the levels of self-stigma and perceptions towards delinquents about both psychiatric disorders and forensic psychiatry hospitalization among male patients hospitalized in the high-security forensic psychiatry service in Turkiye. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 76 male participants. Sociodemographic, clinical, and offense-related variables were defined by interviewing patients and families and examining all records. Perceptions Towards Criminals Scale(PTCS), Self-Stigma Scale(SSS), and Violence Profile of Current Offense Scale were administered to the participants. RESULTS: The participants' SSS total score was 37.73+-16.4, the Internalized Devaluation subdimension score was 17.91+-8.19, the Internalized Stereotypes score was 14.77+-7.51 and the Social Withdrawal and Concealment Disorder score was 4.77+-2.70. The total PTCS score was 32.30+-10.38, the Perception of Moral and Personality Traits Subscale score was 21.16+-7.23 and the Perceptions of Social Networks subscale score was 11.16+-4.03. PTCS social network score was relatively more negative in the patients who received regular antipsychotic treatment before hospitalization compared to those who did not adhere to the treatment(p=0.043). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results of the study are important in terms of examining both internalized stigma and perceptions towards delinquency in male forensic patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Another result is perceptions of the social networks of delinquency are more negative in the patient group receiving regular treatment. The results of the study do not support high self-stigma levels in the forensic psychiatry population, contrary to the double stigma theory and previous studies conducted in our country. The disparities between the results and the literature could be due to investigating the research with different cultural populations. It will be possible to prevent the effects of stigma on forensic patients and to develop appropriate strategies for the management of self-stigma with stigma studies.