Restraint and the question of validity

Citation

Paterson B & Duxbury J (2007) Restraint and the question of validity. Nursing Ethics, 14 (4), pp. 535-545. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733007077888

Abstract
Restraint as an intervention in the management of acute mental distress has a long history that predates the existence of psychiatry. However, it remains a source of controversy with an ongoing debate as to its role. This article critically explores what to date has seemingly been only implicit in the debate surrounding the role of restraint: how should the concept of validity be interpreted when applied to restraint as an intervention? The practice of restraint in mental health is critically examined using two post-positivist constructions of validity, the pragmatic and the psychopolitical, by means of a critical examination of the literature. The current literature provides only weak support for the pragmatic validity of restraint as an intervention and no support to date for its psychopolitical validity. Judgements regarding the validity of any intervention that is coercive must include reference to the psychopolitical dimensions of both practice and policy.

Keywords
Inpatient; Mental; Psychiatric; Restraint; Validity; Violence; aggression; article; attitude to health; counter transference; decision making; ethics; evidence based medicine; exercise; health personnel attitude; human; legal aspect; mental disease; nurse attitude; nursing evaluation research; occupational health; organization and management; patient advocacy; persuasive communication; philosophy; politics; psychiatric nursing; psychological aspect; safety; standard; United Kingdom; United States; Attitude of Health Personnel; Coercion; Countertransference (Psychology); Evidence-Based Medicine; Great Britain; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Judgment; Mental Disorders; Nurse's Role; Philosophy, Nursing; Postmodernism; Restraint, Physical; Safety Management; Nursing ethics

Journal
Nursing Ethics: Volume 14, Issue 4