Guilt, Shame and Treatment in Mentally Disordered Offenders

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Does guilt and shame impact on motivation and readiness to engage in treatment in offenders with mental health difficulties?

• IRAS ID

  192683

• Contact name

  Jeannette Harris

• Contact email

  jeannette.harris@surrey.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Surrey

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 10 months, 27 days

• Research summary

  The proposed research aims to explore whether feelings of guilt and shame impact on motivation and readiness for treatment in a population of men who have committed offences and have mental health difficulties. It is also interested in whether there are any differences in the impact between these two emotions on treatment motivation and readiness. It is planned that a sample of men from high and medium secure units within West London Mental Health Trust will be recruited and asked to complete two questionnaires that ask about guilt and shame proneness (the TOSCA-SD) and guilt and shame related to offences (the ORSGS) and two questionnaires about motivation and treatment readiness (the TRQ and the PMI). In addition, clinicians who have experience of the participant will also be asked to provide information about the participant’s treatment readiness (using the TRRG scale).
  It is proposed that a mixed methods design be employed, with the main research design allowing for quantitative (statistical) analysis. As there are not previous research findings in this area, it is deemed acceptable to try to understand whether there is a relationship between the variables of interest. Therefore, a correlational design is proposed. The variables under investigation are levels of guilt and level of shame (including proneness); and motivation and readiness for participation in treatment and treatment gains. Data will be examined within participants to assess whether guilt or shame scores are correlated to motivation and treatment readiness scores. In addition, participants will also be given the opportunity to respond to some open ended questions, to further explore the impact of guilt and shame on treatment motivation and readiness. This data will be analysed qualitatively.

• REC name

  West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/WM/0463

• Date of REC Opinion

  17 Mar 2016

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion