Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Religion, spirituality and personal recovery among forensic patients

Religion, spirituality and personal recovery among forensic patients Religion and spirituality are well-researched concepts within the field of psychology and mental health yet they have rarely been researched in high-secure services within the UK. Research in mental health and prison contexts suggests benefits of religion/spirituality to coping, social support, self-worth, symptoms of depression and anxiety and behavioural infractions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of religion/spirituality in high-secure service users’ personal recovery.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were carried out with 13 male patients in a high-secure hospital, with primary diagnoses of mental illness (n=11) or personality disorder (n=2). Participants were from a range of religious/spiritual backgrounds and were asked about how their beliefs impact their recovery and care pathways within the hospital. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.FindingsThree superordinate themes were identified: “religion and spirituality as providing a framework for recovery”; “religion and spirituality as offering key ingredients in the recovery process”; and “barriers to recovery through religion/spirituality”. The first two themes highlight some of the positive aspects that aid participants’ recovery. The third theme reported hindrances in participants’ religious/spiritual practices and beliefs. Each theme is discussed with reference to sub-themes and illustrative excerpts.Practical implicationsReligion/spirituality might support therapeutic engagement for some service users and staff could be more active in their enquiry of the value that patients place on the personal meaning of this for their life.Originality/valueFor the participants in this study, religion/spirituality supported the principles of recovery, in having an identity separate from illness or offender, promoting hope, agency and personal meaning. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Forensic Practice Emerald Publishing

Religion, spirituality and personal recovery among forensic patients

Download PDF
11 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/religion-spirituality-and-personal-recovery-among-forensic-patients-gjwPRkrpyz
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2050-8794
DOI
10.1108/jfp-05-2019-0021
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Religion and spirituality are well-researched concepts within the field of psychology and mental health yet they have rarely been researched in high-secure services within the UK. Research in mental health and prison contexts suggests benefits of religion/spirituality to coping, social support, self-worth, symptoms of depression and anxiety and behavioural infractions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of religion/spirituality in high-secure service users’ personal recovery.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were carried out with 13 male patients in a high-secure hospital, with primary diagnoses of mental illness (n=11) or personality disorder (n=2). Participants were from a range of religious/spiritual backgrounds and were asked about how their beliefs impact their recovery and care pathways within the hospital. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.FindingsThree superordinate themes were identified: “religion and spirituality as providing a framework for recovery”; “religion and spirituality as offering key ingredients in the recovery process”; and “barriers to recovery through religion/spirituality”. The first two themes highlight some of the positive aspects that aid participants’ recovery. The third theme reported hindrances in participants’ religious/spiritual practices and beliefs. Each theme is discussed with reference to sub-themes and illustrative excerpts.Practical implicationsReligion/spirituality might support therapeutic engagement for some service users and staff could be more active in their enquiry of the value that patients place on the personal meaning of this for their life.Originality/valueFor the participants in this study, religion/spirituality supported the principles of recovery, in having an identity separate from illness or offender, promoting hope, agency and personal meaning.

Journal

Journal of Forensic Practice – Emerald Publishing

Published: Aug 7, 2019

Keywords: Religion; Forensic mental health; Spirituality; High secure; Recovery approach; Therapeutic engagement

References

  • Religious beliefs in Schizophrenia: their relevance for adherence to treatment
    Borras, L.; Mohr, S.; Brandt, P.-Y.; Gilliéron, C.; Eytan, A.; Huguelet, P.
  • Religious involvement and social resources: evidence from the data set ‘Americans’ changing lives’
    Bradley, D.E.
  • The value of religion in prison an inmate perspective
    Clear, T.R.; Hardyman, P.L.; Stout, B.; Lucken, K.; Dammer, H.R.
  • The nearness of the offence: some theological reflections on forensic psychotherapy
    Cox, M.; Grounds, A.
  • The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: human needs and the self-determination of behavior
    Deci, E.L.; Ryan, R.M.
  • Recovery: the lived experience of rehabilitation
    Deegan, P.E.
  • Religious involvement, social ties, and social support in a southeastern community
    Ellison, C.G.; George, L.K.
  • Religion and mental health during incarceration: a systematic literature review
    Eytan, A.
  • Life after homicide: accounts of recovery and redemption of offender patients in a high security hospital – a qualitative study
    Ferrito, M.; Vetere, A.; Adshead, G.; Moore, E.
  • Introducing spirituality into psychiatric care
    Galanter, M.; Dermatis, H.; Talbot, N.; McMahon, C.; Alexander, M.J.
  • Spirituality and health: what we know, what we need to know
    George, L.K.; Larson, D.B.; Koenig, H.G.; McCullough, M.E.
  • Domains of need in a high secure hospital setting: a model for streamlining care and reducing length of stay
    Glorney, E.; Perkins, D.; Adshead, G.; McGauley, G.; Murray, K.; Noak, J.; Sichau, G.
  • Spiritual beliefs and the search for meaning among older adults following partner loss
    Golsworthy, R.; Coyle, A.
  • Integrating religion and spirituality into mental health care, psychiatry and psychotherapy
    Hefti, R.
  • Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: implications for physical and mental health research
    Hill, P.C.; Pargament, K.I.
  • Conceptualizing religion and spirituality: points of commonality, points of departure
    Hill, P.C.; Pargament, K.I.; Hood, R.W.; McCullough, M.E.; Swyers, J.P.; Larson, D.B.; Zinnbauer, B.J.
  • Spirituality and religious practices among outpatients with schizophrenia and their clinicians
    Huguelet, P.; Mohr, S.; Borras, L.; Gillieron, C.; Brandt, P.Y.
  • ‘Keepin’ my mind right’: identity maintenance and religious social support in the prison context
    Kerley, K.R.; Copes, H.
  • Religious faith after psychotic illness
    Kirov, G.; Kemp, R.; Kirov, K.; David, A.S.
  • The role of spirituality in psychosocial rehabilitation
    Longo, D.A.; Peterson, S.M.
  • Spirituality and religion among French prisoners an effective coping resource?
    Mandhouj, O.; Aubin, H.J.; Amirouche, A.; Perroud, N.A.; Huguelet, P.
  • Why God is often found behind bars: prison conversions and the crisis of self-narrative
    Maruna, S.; Wilson, L.; Curran, K.
  • The effect of religiosity and spirituality on psychological well-being among forensic psychiatric patients in Canada
    Mela, M.A.; Marcoux, E.; Baetz, M.; Griffin, R.; Angelski, C.; Deqiang, G.
  • Spirituality, religion, and health: an emerging research field
    Miller, W.R.; Thoresen, C.E.
  • The relationship between schizophrenia and religion and its implications for care
    Mohr, S.; Huguelet, P.
  • Prison religion in action and its influence on offender rehabilitation
    O’Connor, T.P.; Perryclear, M.
  • Religion as a meaning-making framework in coping with life stress
    Park, C.L.
  • Psychiatrists, spirituality, and religion
    Poole, R.; Cook, C.C.H.; Higgo, R.
  • Religious coping among psychotic patients: relevance to suicidality and treatment outcomes
    Rosmarin, D.H.; Bigda-Peyton, J.S.; Öngur, D.; Pargament, K.I.; Björgvinsson, T.
  • Provision of spiritual and pastoral care facilities in a high-security hospital and their increased use by those of Muslim compared to Christian faith
    Saleem, R.; Treasaden, I.; Puri, K.B.
  • The role of religion and spirituality in mental and physical health
    Seybold, K.S.; Hill, P.C.
  • Outcomes of religious and spiritual adaptations to psychotherapy: a meta-analytic review
    Smith, T.B.; Bartz, J.; Richards, P.S.
  • Muslim converts in prison
    Spalek, B.; El-Hassan, S.
  • The role of religious support in re-entry: evidence from the SVORI data
    Stansfield, R.; Mowen, T.J.; O’Connor, T.; Boman, J.H.
  • Meaning in life: one link in the chain from religiousness to well-being
    Steger, M.F.; Frazier, P.
  • Social factors and recovery from mental health difficulties: a review of the evidence
    Tew, J.; Ramon, S.; Slade, M.; Bird, V.; Melton, J.; Le Boutillier, C.
  • Religion in mental health care: psychotherapists’ views
    van Uden, M.H.; Pieper, J.Z.
  • Forensic psychiatric experiences, stigma, and self-concept: a mixed-methods study
    West, M.L.; Mulay, A.L.; DeLuca, J.S.; O’Donovan, K.; Yanos, P.T.
  • Religion and Spirituality
    Worthington, E.L.; Hook, J.N.; Davis, D.E.; McDaniel, M.