Coercion and Violence in Mental Health Settings

Nutmeg Hallett, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. She is a researcher with a background as a mental health nurse. She is deputy lead for the Risk, Abuse and Violence Research Programme and is a core member of the Institute of Mental Health. She has published widely on the experiences and prevention of coercion and violence in healthcare settings from the perspectives of patients, staff and students. Her research interests include how restorative justice principles can be embedded within mental health services.

Richard Whittington, PhD, is a Senior Research Adviser at the Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry at St. Olav's Hospital, Trondheim, and a Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is a forensic psychologist and a researcher with clinical experience as a mental health nurse in acute settings and a focus on the social psychology of coercion minimization and violence prevention in mental health services. He has co-authored and co-edited a large number of publications on these topics over the past 25 years. He is a former chair of the European Violence in Psychiatry Research Group and is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool, UK.

Dirk Richter, PhD, is a senior researcher in the Department of Health Professions at Bern University of Applied Sciences and Head of Research and Development at the Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Bern University Hospital for Mental Health, with a background in psychiatric nursing and sociology. He has published on following topics: violence and aggression management in mental health care, coercion in general health care, psychiatric rehabilitation, psychiatric epidemiology, epistemology of mental disorders and mental health related Covid-19-research.

Emachi Eneje, is a PhD student in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Birmingham. His research focus is recovery from mental illness; more specifically, exploring ways in which the experience of recovery can be modelled with computable representation. His research is inspired by his own lived experience of mental illness and ongoing journey of recovery.

SECTION I. UNDERSTANDING.-1 Introduction.- 2 The culture of coercion.- 3 Biopsychosocial theories of aggression.- 4 The lived experience of coercion.- 5 User, carer and professionals' experiences of coercion.- 6 Responses to violence.- SECTION II. SURROUNDINGS.- 7 Physical.- 8 Safety and security in psychiatric clinical environments.- 9 Ward culture and atmosphere.- SECTION III. ASSESSING.- 10 Measurement and prevalence.- 11 Prediction of violence.- SECTION IV. PREVENTING AND MANAGING.- 12 Reducing involuntary admissions.- 13Organisational responses to aggression.- 14 Trauma-informed care.- 15 Aggression management training.- 16 De-escalation.- 17 Pharmacological management.- 18 Coercive measures.- 19 Alternatives to coercion.- 20 Post incident support.- 21 Conclusions.