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The offender personality disorder (OPD) Pathway is a network of services across prison, health and community settings in England and Wales providing psychological support for high-risk people who have offended and are thought to have a personality disorder. As part of a national evaluation of the Pathway, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 36 Pathway users to determine their views about their experiences in these services; and whether and how these impacted on their psychological wellbeing. Framework analysis was used to analyze the data. Participants reported positive therapeutic relationships with staff; improved psychological wellbeing; and for some, a shift away from antisocial toward more pro-social identities. They also described a negative impact of staff turnover and uncertainty about the role of prison officers and psychologists within prison services. Pathway services are able to engage individuals who have not previously engaged with services. Constancy of staff is fundamental to the Pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We argue that editorial independence, through robust practice of publication ethics and research integrity, promotes good science and prevents bad science. We elucidate the concept of research integrity, and then discuss the dimensions of editorial independence. Best practice guidelines exist, but compliance with these guidelines varies. Therefore, we make recommendations for protecting and strengthening editorial independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrated motivational-volitional (IMV) model of suicide presents a pathway between perceived entrapment to the development of suicide ideation. This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study used a sample of 106 male high-risk prisoners, to explore the predictive power of entrapment and goal factors linked to self-regulation (goal adjustment and ambivalence about personal goals) for suicide ideation. A logistic hierarchical regression showed that four factors: goal re-engagement, goal disengagement, goal ambivalence and internal entrapment, as a set, were able to predict any current suicide ideation over and above established risk factors (depression, social support, rumination and history of suicidal behaviour), χ 2 (8) = 45.90, p < 0.001. As internal entrapment (odds ratio = 1.16) increased, this contributed significantly to the likelihood of current suicide ideation. This adds to findings that level of internal entrapment is an important factor in understanding the presence of suicide ideation and that this may also be applicable in prisoners. Interestingly, against the direction of hypotheses, higher willingness to engage with new goals (OR = 1.21) and lower historic suicide risk (OR = 0.87), also significantly contributed to the likelihood of current suicide ideation. Findings are discussed in relation to existing literature and with consideration of this specialist participant group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Co-occurring self-harm and aggression (dual harm) is particularly prevalent among forensic mental health service (FMHS) patients. There is limited understanding of why this population engages in dual harm., Aims: This work aims to explore FMHS patients' experiences of dual harm and how they make sense of this behaviour, with a focus on the role of emotions., Method: Participants were identified from their participation in a previous study. Sixteen FMHS patients with a lifetime history of dual harm were recruited from two hospitals. Individuals participated in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews where they reflected on past and/or current self-harm and aggression. Interview transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis., Results: Six themes were generated: self-harm and aggression as emotional regulation strategies, the consequences of witnessing harmful behaviours, relationships with others and the self, trapped within the criminal justice system, the convergence and divergence of self-harm and aggression, and moving forward as an FMHS patient. Themes highlighted shared risk factors of dual harm across participants, including emotional dysregulation, perceived lack of social support and witnessing harmful behaviours. Participants underlined the duality of their self-harm and aggression, primarily utilising both to regulate negative emotions. These behaviours also fulfilled distinct purposes at times (e.g. self-harm as punishment, aggression as defence). The impact of contextual factors within FMHSs, including restrictive practices and institutionalisation, were emphasised., Conclusions: Findings provide recommendations that can help address dual harm within forensic settings, including (a) transdiagnostic, individualised approaches that consider the duality of self-harm and aggression; and (b) cultural and organisational focus on recovery-centred practice.