Abstract

We describe and reflect upon the process of setting up participatory action research (PAR) with a group of men resident on a personality assessment and treatment service in a medium security prison for male offenders. The service is part of the national offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway, a joint initiative between the National Health Service England and Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service set up in 2011. Its aim was to provide a pathway of services for offenders, likely to be diagnosed with a personality disorder, to reduce risk of re-offending and improve psychological health and wellbeing. Consistent with PAR principles, prisoners were trained as co-researchers with the aim of co-producing new knowledge and improving their community. To our knowledge, this is the first PAR project conducted within the OPD pathway. We focus here on initial stages of research design and development. By sharing our experiences, we contribute to the literature on co-production research highlighting key benefits and challenges of PAR in this setting. Key learnings such as the importance of obtaining organizational support, taking time for establishing trust, relationship-building and research training are discussed.

摘要

我们描述并反思了与一群居住在男性罪犯中等安全监狱的人格评估和治疗服务的男性一起建立参与式行动研究 (PAR) 的过程。该服务是国家罪犯人格障碍 (OPD) 途径的一部分，该途径是英格兰国家健康服务中心与英国女王监狱与缓刑服务中心于 2011 年成立的一项联合举措。其目的是为罪犯提供一种服务途径，可能被诊断出患有人格障碍，以降低再次犯罪的风险并改善心理健康和幸福感。根据 PAR 原则，囚犯接受了共同研究人员的培训，目的是共同产生新知识并改善他们的社区。据我们所知，这是在 OPD 途径中进行的第一个 PAR 项目。我们在这里专注于研究设计和开发的初始阶段。通过分享我们的经验，我们为联合制作研究的文献做出了贡献，重点介绍了 PAR 在这种情况下的主要优势和挑战。讨论了获得组织支持的重要性、花时间建立信任、建立关系和研究培训等关键知识。