Violence towards mental health nurses in England and the nature of the policy response: a frame analysis

Citation

Paterson B (2008) Violence towards mental health nurses in England and the nature of the policy response: a frame analysis. Journal of Risk and Governance, 1 (2), pp. 125-136. https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=9056

Abstract
Nurses working in services for people with mental health problems are twice as likely to be assaulted as nurses working in general hospital settings (Health Care Commission 2007). The emergence of the issue of violence towards nurses as a social problem has however been accompanied by a contest to date unexamined, between conflicting ‘frames’ of the problem, which this paper seeks to make transparent. Two distinct ‘master’ frames are discussed the ‘individualising’ and the ‘co-creationist’. It is concluded that the influence of these frames has influenced the nature of responses to the problem but the recent dominance of the individualising frame is being challenged by the emergence or perhaps re-emergence, of the ideals and values of the therapeutic community.

Keywords
; Mental health policy England; Medical personnel Violence against England; Mentally ill offenders England; Community mental health services England; Psychiatric nurses England

Journal
Journal of Risk and Governance: Volume 1, Issue 2