[Effects on assassination attempts on Lafontaine and Schäuble on public opinion about psychiatric patients. Part 2:...

As reported in the first part of our paper, in reaction to two assassination attempts carried out on schizophrenic persons there was a marked increase of social distance of the German public towards schizophrenic persons. Based on two further inquiries we are able to show that social distance decreased slightly during the course of 1991, but at the end of the year was still increased as compared with the situation in early 1990 before the first assassination attempt occurred. There was a corresponding trend in the popular stereotype of psychiatric patients. Our findings indicate, however, that the increase of social distance was specific for schizophrenic behaviour, since no such development could be observed in relation to major depressive disorder, for which the degree of rejection by the public did not change during the study period. Comparison between the first and final surveys reveals that, besides those persons who had never had contact with psychiatric patients, those who were personally involved as patients or relatives also reacted to the acts of violence by an increase in social distance. Among those who themselves were providing professional or lay help, or who had psychiatric patients among their friends or acquaintances, in contrast, the degree of social distance remained unchanged.