The experience of familial support in high secure forensic patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the value that high secure forensic patients place on familial support: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
IRAS ID
235373
Contact name
Martha Gillespie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 2 days
Research summary
This study will explore the ways that patients within a high secure forensic hospital experience familial support. It will focus on what familial support means to these individuals, the value that is placed on familial support, and how familial support changes in a high secure hospital.
Participants will be recruited from The State Hospital which is an all-male high secure forensic hospital. A cohort will initially be drawn from patients that receive at least one family visit per month. From this cohort, staff members will be asked to advise on participants’ eligibility to participate in terms of potential risk when discussing family support (i.e. emotional distress), current psychological wellbeing and their capacity to give consent.
Data will be collected through semi structured interviews which will last up to sixty minutes. The interviews will take place at The State Hospital, and will cover questions around patients’ experiences of familial support.
Interviews will be audio recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Once transcription is complete, the data will be analysed, and themes will be drawn from the data. Transcripts will be anonymised, and no identifiable information will be included within the final version of this study.
The results will be written up as a journal article and form part of the thesis submission for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at The University of Edinburgh. It will also be submitted to an academic journal.
The results will be shared with the research committee at The State Hospital, and presented to the clinical team. Furthermore, presentation at the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services (IAFMHS) annual conference in 2019 will be considered, depending on funding, the researcher's capacity, and support from The State Hospital to do so.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
18/SS/0027
Date of REC Opinion
17 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion