Being Restrained: A Study of Power and Powerlessness

Abstract

Previous research about the use of restraints has mainly sought generalizations regarding (a) who is likely to be restrained, (b) the frequency of the use of restraints, and (c) the behavior that precipitates the application of restraining devices. Therefore, there has been a paucity of research that attempts to understand the impact of restraint on the restrained person. The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of the experience of being restrained for 10 psychiatric patients who had been restrained in leather restraints. Participants were interviewed in unstructured interviews. The taped interviews were transcribed and analyzed by means of a modification of an eight-stage interpretive process, grounded in Heideggerian phenomenology. In this article the theme of power is reported and discussed.

A Review of Interventions to Reduce Mechanical Restraint and Seclusion among Adult Psychiatric Inpatients

“…There is no doubt that patients can find experiencing witnessing restraint and seclusion traumatic (7,8). Once aware that restraint is going to take place patients can feel high levels of anxiety, fear and anger, sometimes resulting in an escalation of the situation (9). Nurses face an ethical dilemma in these circumstances and the decision to use restraint or seclusion is influenced by personal morals, values and emotions.…”

Approval Ratings of Inpatient Coercive Interventions in a National Sample of Mental Health Service Users and Staff in England

“…Such preferences are likely to have some influence on the decision to deploy them and thus are worthy of the systematic investigation reported in this paper. Much research on subjective perceptions in this area has been qualitative and focused on emotional responses to the experience of coercion [9]. Qualitative studies conducted beyond the UK and American setting indicate that many of the responses of service users and staff are recognisable across cultures e.g.…”

Mesures de contrôle en milieu psychiatrique : trois perspectives pour en guider la réduction, voire l’élimination

“…Ils ont cherché à comprendre l'expérience des mesures de contrôle, d'abord, puis le cycle de la violence auquel contribuent les mesures de contrôle. Pour sa part, l'étude de l'expérience des patients psychiatriques placés en isolement et en contention met en évidence que les aspects négatifs rapportés sont nettement plus fréquents que les aspects positifs (Bégin, 1991 ;Ray et al, 1996, Johnson, 1998.…”