title: The experience of special hospital patients in regional secure units.
abstract: Regional secure units provide one of the main routes of release for special hospital patients; a route that in many cases is unsuccessful as the patient is subsequently readmitted to the special hospital. Processes underlying this were investigated in this UK study using a grounded theory approach. The interview data obtained in 1993 from a sample of 14 readmitted special hospital patients were analysed and five explanatory categories were generated. This paper concentrates on descriptive data from two categories. One describes negative experiences of a group of patients in regional secure units; an experience often considered a 'backward step'. The second data category identifies four principal reasons for readmission; one reason, inappropriate sexual behaviour, was of particular concern due to its frequency and the possibility that it resulted from the special hospital practice of gender segregation.
authors.affiliation: Ashworth Hospital, Liverpool, England.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Skelly
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D004739:England; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011287:Prejudice; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D014754:Violence