Exclusion Room Experiences of Inmates

Psychiatric mental health nurses frequently are required to care for patients who are acutely psychotic, aggressive, highly destructive, suicidal, or at risk of escape. Traditionally, "management strategies" of such patients have included the use of physical restraints, seclusion rooms, or constant one-to-one observation. These strategies have been criticized on grounds of ethics, economics, and efficacy (Montgomery & Johnson, 1996).

The continued use of seclusion and restraint in psychiatric facilities "in the face of low confidence in such coercive interventions by health care professional may be a sign both of the persistence of traditional practices which have not been closely examined, as well as by the use of these traditional practices to shield the staff of such facilities against fear of mental illness, violence and loss of control" (Goren & Curtis, 1996, p. 7). A research study is proposed that will develop information on the perceptions of psychiatric patients who are inmates in corrections facilities with respect to the use and effectiveness of seclusion rooms.

Background information on the problem and analysis of this information within the context of the use of the seclusion concept in corrections facilities is presented in this section. The background and analysis is presented within the context of perceptions of the seclusion concept, effectiveness of the seclusion concept, and reducing violenc

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l perceived by psychiatric patients who are inmates in corrections facilities. The degree of control perceived will be measured on a Likert-type scale ranging from "Strongly agree" in response to a statement that control is perceived to "Strongly disagree" in response to such a statement. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The Social and Psychological Effects of Isolation The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1890 that extended solitary confinement was an infamous punishment. The Court observed that even a short period of solitary confinement could lead some inmates to insanity and suicide. Further, the Court held that inmates who survived the ordeal more or less intact were not characterized by improved behavior subsequent to release from solitary confinement (Gavora & Alexander, 1996).. In 1978, the United States Supreme Court held that a "debilitating mental effect" was experienced by inmates confined to isolation rooms from which there was no visibility from the inside of the enclosure to the outer area in which the enclosure was situated (Gavora & Alexander, 1996, p. 27). It was held further that inmates subjected to isolation were psychologically harmed by the realization that guards held the power to impose such punish

Category: Psychology - E