Irish Traveller Narratives of Psychology in Prison
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Male Irish Travellers' narratives of psychological intervention and help seeking in prison
IRAS ID
321989
Contact name
Sarah Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Salomons Institute of Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Many studies have concluded that the prevalence of mental health difficulties in prisons is significantly higher than in the general population (Brinded et al. 2001; Diamond et al. 2001; Brugha et al., 2005), with one study reported rates as high as 90% within prisons (Singleton et al., 1998). Past evidence has shown that Irish Travellers face barriers when accessing mental health services in prison, including difficulties with literacy, lack of trust in staff and decreased engagement in the prison regime (Mac Gabhann, 2011) and additional mental health stressors they experience such as discrimination (Gavin, 2019). Limited research exists into Irish Traveller males experience of seeking help for mental health in prisons.
The research aims to develop understanding into the narratives held by Irish Traveller males around seeking help and psychological intervention in prison. Understanding attitudes and barriers to psychological intervention will allow for improvement to service access in a population with increased mental health need. Approximately 15 participants will be recruited. Participants will have previously engaged in a psychological intervention in prison. Interviews will invite participants to recount the story of how they came into contact with psychological services. Follow up questions will be asked regarding their culture, attitude to help seeking and experience of psychological intervention. Interviews will be analysed using narrative analysis to identify consistent narratives across participants. Interviews will take place in the prison establishment and will take up to 90 minutes.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/HRA/0436
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jun 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion