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The extent and effects of violence among psychiatric in-patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

C. Thomas ,
A. Bartlett  and
G. C. Mezey
C. Thomas
Affiliation:
Bristol Children's Hospital, St Michael's Hill, Bristol BS2 8BJ
A. Bartlett
Affiliation:
Section of Forensic Psychiatry
G. C. Mezey*
Affiliation:
Section of Forensic Psychiatry, St George's Hospital, Medical School, Jenner Wing, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Actual and perceived safety of male and female in-patients in an inner-city psychiatric hospital were examined. Using semi-structured interviews, 59 inpatients were asked to report on their direct experiences of physical or sexually threatening behaviour towards them during their admission. Of the sample, 75% reported unwanted physical or sexual experiences: female patients were significantly more likely than males to report sexual harassment. Most incidents were not reported to staff and both staff and patients appeared to perceive the ward environment as safe despite fairly high levels of verbal and physical aggression. This study has implications for the way that ‘violent incidents' in psychiatric hospitals are defined and recorded and raises questions about the provision of women-only space in hospitals.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 19 , Issue 10 , October 1995 , pp. 600 - 604
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995

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