Affiliations: Team Manager, Regional Work Rehabilitation, Auckland Regional Forensic Psychiatry Services, Waitemata District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand | Graduate School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand | Department of Occupational Science and Therapy, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand
Note: [] Address for Correspondence: Jenni Tregoweth, Auckland Regional Forensic Psychiatry Services, Waitemata District Health Board, P.O. Box 44 045, Pt Chevalier, Auckland 1246, New Zealand. Tel.: +64 9 440 6992; Fax: +64 9 826 5133; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: There is scant reference to employment or community adjustment skills within the forensic psychiatry literature, and little evidence illustrating the experiences of people who are recipients of forensic psychiatric care. Situated within a New Zealand context, this article is drawn from a hermeneutic study that explored the return-to-work experiences of individuals following their discharge from long-term forensic hospitalisation. Their experiences are revealed within eleven essential themes. The study findings suggest that employment provides opportunities to build skills, stamina and collegial regard, thereby enhancing self-satisfaction and family esteem. Being bolstered by work accomplishments co-exists with on-the-job challenges largely concerned with stamina, stigma, social isolation and disclosure. Implications for forensic and vocational rehabilitation include the need for practitioner/client collaboration in (a) developing disclosure contingency plans, (b) sourcing alternative social opportunities and (c) designing dynamic return-to-work plans centred on clinical and practical supports such as effective medication regimes and negotiating workplace accommodations.
Keywords: Forensic psychiatry, vocational recovery, life experience, employment
