title: Looking back, looking forward: Recovery journeys in a high secure hospital.
abstract: A qualitative study of staff and service users' views of recovery was undertaken in a UK high secure hospital working to implement recovery practices. 30 staff and 25 service users participated in semi-structured interviews or focus groups. Thematic analysis identified four broad accounts of how recovery was made sense of in the high secure environment: the importance of meaningful occupation; valuing relationships; recovery journeys and dialogue with the past; and recovery as personal responsibility. These themes are discussed with an emphasis on service user strategies of cooperation or resistance, respectively advancing or impeding progress through the system. In this context the notion of cooperation is, for many, commensurate with compliance with a dominant medical model. The policy framing of recovery opens up contemplation of treatment alternatives, more participatory approaches to risk management, and emphasise the value of relational skills, but may not elude the overarching bio-psychiatric episteme.
authors.affiliation: University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England.
authors.forename: Mick
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKeown
authors.affiliation: Community Futures, Preston, England.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, England, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foy
authors.affiliation: University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, England, UK.
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Paxton
authors.affiliation: University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blackmon
mesh_terms: D017144:Focus Groups; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D012637:Security Measures
keywords: cooperation; forensic; mental health; recovery