Exploration of Individuals' Experiences on Community Treatment Orders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Grounded Theory Exploration of Individuals' Experiences on Community Treatment Orders
IRAS ID
348979
Contact name
Charlotte Willetts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christ Church University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) are described as legal interventions aimed at enhancing the treatment compliance of individuals with severe mental illnesses who have a history of disengagement from services and frequent re-admissions (Stuen et al., 2015). CTOs were originally perceived as liberty enhancing as a less restrictive alternative to hospital detention (Rugkasa & Burns, 2017). Their efficacy is now widely debated due to legal and ethical considerations.
Despite there being a number of studies focusing on service user experiences of CTOs, these continue to yield conflicting perspectives such as that CTOs can be perceived as both beneficial as well as damaging. These conflicting perspectives have not yet been fully explained by the research. This suggests a need to continue to understand the psychological implications of the CTO, drawing on psychological theory.
The current project aims to build on the existing understanding of service user experiences of CTOs with the intention of focusing upon attachment processes and/or the presence of trauma and the potential for re-traumatisation. This will be with the aim of developing a theory to further understand individual's experiences of being subject to CTOs including having these Orders reviewed, continued, and being recalled on them and the perceived influence this has on relationships with professionals, service engagement and the recovery journey. This will help inform the practice and policy debates regarding whether CTOs can have a genuine therapeutic use.
The aim is to interview around 15 service users under Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust who are currently subject to a CTO or have been subject to one of these Orders in the last two years. Interviews (which will last up to 60 minutes) will take place on NHS, VCSE or local authority sites.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/YH/0011
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jan 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion