title: Forensic psychiatric patients' narratives of their offense.
abstract: This study aims to describe forensic psychiatric patients' experiences of their offense and its meaning for their lives, and to increase the understanding of the meaning of the offense in the eyes of the patient. The data analyzed was collected by interviews with forensic psychiatric patients and analyzed by narrative analysis. The findings suggest that forensic psychiatric patients have different types of stories describing the offense and its meaning in their lives. Illness narratives can be utilized therapeutically because they may construct patients' identity, experiences, and their situation as people with an illness seek explanations and meanings for their plight.
authors.affiliation: University of Tampere, School of Health Sciences , Tampere , Finland.
authors.forename: Riitta Anneli
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Askola
authors.forename: Olavi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Louheranta
authors.forename: Eija
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paavilainen
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Åstedt-Kurki
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Soininen
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Putkonen
authors.forename: Merja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikkonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration