Effect of forensic psychiatric hospital admission on social capital
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of detention in a medium secure forensic psychiatric hospital on an individual’s social capital once living in the community. Qualitative research examining barriers as well as mechanisms to increase social capital from the perspective of service users and mental health professionals.
IRAS ID
257804
Contact name
Nicola Moran
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of York
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
Service users that have experienced mental health difficulties, as well as offending behaviour, may be referred to forensic services. Their length of stay is usually undefined with some individuals staying for 5+ years. On discharge to the community they can experience difficulties adapting to this new life. One mechanism of recovery that is well highlighted in the literature is connectedness (social capital, ability to build relationships). Social connectedness refers to relationships that people build with others. This could include family members, friends, acquaintances made through hobbies or the work setting, and for the individuals examined in this study potentially fellow patients. These social connections are important to every individual's well-being. For the service user group that this study is aiming to examine the ability to develop the social connections may be especially difficult. Service users would have spent a significant amount of time within a hospital, contributing to the loss of already established friendships.
This research aims to examine how the mechanism of connectedness is potentially different for service users in a forensic setting. It will look at the barriers to accessing or building social capital as well as the mechanisms to increasing it, from both the service user and staff perspective.
A qualitative research design will be employed to explore the views and experiences of five service users currently under forensic services who are living in the community following discharge from a medium secure inpatient setting, and 5 practitioners from the same service
REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0072
Date of REC Opinion
14 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion