What do service users hear when staff talk about sex and relationships
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What do service users hear when staff talk about sex and relationships?
IRAS ID
162923
Contact name
B Greenhill
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Previous research has demonstrated that the prevailing views of sex between people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are somewhat conservative. This is in spite of several national drives dating back to the 1970s aimed at increasing normalisation in experiences, and increased community integration, for individuals with ID. The conservative views are mirrored in forensic services, where service user rights and staff concerns about risk must be continually balanced. Often, the way that constructs such as sex and relationships are discussed, serves to perpetuate certain messages and institutional cultures. This is especially relevant with the identified population, considering the need for specific and accessible language used in ID settings.
This qualitative study hopes to explore service users' perceptions of how staff speak about, and think about, sex and relationships in a forensic context. Using discourse analysis, the way that messages are received by service users, and inadvertently portrayed by staff, will be analysed. The results of this study will hopefully support and inform staff practice and training within the Trust, while improving wider awareness of ways in which important and sensitive topics are discussed in ID settings.
Service users with an intellectual disability currently residing at Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust will be recruited to participate. Semi-structured interviews will be carried out with a maximum of 10 participants from the Trust. Other service users within the Trust will be consulted prior to undertaking the research, in order to facilitate development of an accessible interview schedule. This will also ensure that relevant and important questions are asked. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) will be used to analyse the interview data, drawing out themes in the ways that language is used and interpreted, in shaping and constructing the notions of sex and relationships.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0029
Date of REC Opinion
13 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion