“You Should Just Keep Your Mouth Shut and Do As We Say”: Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients’ Experiences of Risk Assessments

Abstract

This study presents findings of forensic inpatients’ experiences of their role in the risk assessment process. Eleven patients, recruited from two forensic psychiatric clinics in Sweden, participated in semi-structured interviews which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis of their experiences resulted in the information of three categories: Taking responsibility for one’s own situation, in terms of taking responsibility for aspects of one’s care, taking charge of the present, emphasizing potential challenges in grasping reality, and being involved and having impact, which concerns feelings of being involved in discussions related to one’s care and treatment versus feelings of being an outsider.