Forensic mental health professionals' perceptions of their dual loyalty conflict: findings from a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mental health professionals (MHP) working in court-mandated treatment settings face ethical dilemmas due to their dual role in assuring their patient's well-being while guaranteeing the security of the population. Clear practical guidelines to support these MHPs' decision-making are lacking, amongst others, due to the ethical conflicts within this field. This qualitative interview study contributes to the much-needed empirical research on how MHPs resolve these ethical conflicts in daily clinical practice.

Methods

31 MHPs working in court-mandated treatment settings were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured and our in-depth analysis followed the thematic analysis approach.

Results

We first outline how mental health professionals perceive their d

SUBMITTER: Merkt H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8444425 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature