‘My journey through the system’: a grounded theory of service user-perceived experiences of recovery in forensic mental health services

The ‘Recovery Approach’ is widely regarded as the guiding principle for mentalhealth service delivery in the UK. Forensic services face unique challenges in applying this approach. Numerous studies have explored themes associated with recovery in these settings but it is unclear how themes relate to each other.

This study set out to build a theoretical model of service user experiences of recovery in forensic mental health settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 service users about their recovery.

Grounded Theory methodology, with a constructivist epistemology, was used to analyse the data. A cyclical model was developed, with five-core recovery processes that interrelated; these were the environment, connectedness, hope for the future, who I am and empowerment. These occurred in three phases of 1) feeling safe and secure, 2) moving forward, and 3) empowerment. These processes were encompassed by two additional themes of arriving at the hospital and changes over time. This study is the first to provide a clear model of service user experiences of recovery in this setting.