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Abusive Interactions: Research in Locked Wards for People with Dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Fiona Kelly*
Affiliation:
Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling E-mail: fiona.kelly@stir.ac.uk

Abstract

This paper reports on a study in which unique access to three locked psycho-geriatric wards of a hospital allowed ethnographic exploration into everyday social worlds of fourteen people with dementia. Findings indicate abusive practice in the wards and show that participants in receipt of such practice responded with self-defence and resistance, but ultimately were defeated. In a development of Sabat's (2001) Selfs 1–3 framework, I identify how abusive practice arose due to staffs' inability to recognise different aspects of patients' self. Recommendations for practice include integrating a developed Selfs 1–3 framework into staff training and evaluating its impact on practice.

Type
Themed Section on ‘Harm’, ‘Abuse’, Agency and Resilience Across the Lifespan
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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