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‘I sang Amazing Grace for about 3 hours that day’: Understanding I ndigenous A ustralians' experience of seclusion
Author(s) -
Sambrano Rachel,
Cox Leonie
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1111/inm.12015
Subject(s) - seclusion , dignity , indigenous , qualitative research , mental health , psychology , context (archaeology) , nursing , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry , sociology , political science , ecology , social science , paleontology , law , biology
Research shows that I ndigenous A ustralians' suspicion and fear of being ‘locked up’ may influence mental health service avoidance. Given this, the aim of this study was to explore, by qualitative analysis of in‐depth interviews ( n = 3), how three I ndigenous people experienced the controversial practice of seclusion. H ans‐ G eorg G adamer's phenomenology guided analysis of the material, and allowed narrated experiences to be understood within their cultural and historical context. Participants viewed seclusion negatively: police involvement in psychiatric care; perceptions of being punished and powerless; occasions of extreme use of force; and lack of care were prominent themes throughout the interviews. While power imbalances inherent in seclusion are problematic for all mental health clients, the distinguishing factor in the I ndigenous clients' experience is that seclusion is continuous with the discriminatory and degrading treatment by governments, police, and health services that many I ndigenous people have experienced since colonization. The participants' experiences echoed G offman's findings that institutional practices act to degrade and dehumanize clients whose resulting conformity eases the work of nursing staff. While some nurses perceive that seclusion reduces clients' agitation, one must ask at what cost to clients' dignity, humanity, and basic human rights.