Social climate and aggression v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patient perceptions of social climate and staff views of working with intellectually developmentally disabled (IDD) offenders; the influence on aggression in forensic IDD services.
IRAS ID
207043
Contact name
Leam Craig
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Violence and aggression in forensic settings is a significant problem in many countries. One such factor that has been suggested to impact on aggression within secure settings is the so-called ‘social climate’ of a given institution. Social climate is a construct consisting of a range of factors such as how safe from the threat of aggression and violence residents and staff feel, how supportive of therapeutic gain and the physical/psychological needs of residents the unit is perceived to be, and the extent to which the unit is seen to provide the opportunity for learning new skills and positive interactions with others (Tonkin, 2015). There are few studies which examine social climate and its associations with aggression with the intellectually developmentally disabled (IDD) population. This study aims to investigate IDD patients' perceptions of the social climate, the level of aggression on units of differing levels of security, and whether or not there is a relationship between the two. This information will be gathered by way of patients completing the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) questionnaire (Schalast et al., 2008). This questionnaire contains 17 questions and assesses perceptions of social climate. Prior to the EssenCES being administered with patients, the assessment will be adapted for use with the IDD population in order to make it more accessible. This adapted form will then be read to each patient participant during its completion.
In addition, staff views of working with IDD offenders will be gathered via focus groups and an Attitudes to working with IDD Offenders questionnaire. The resulting information will be examined in relation to any associations with patient aggression on each of the units.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0460
Date of REC Opinion
23 Dec 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion