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Staff understandings of abuse and poor practice in residential settings for adults with intellectual disabilities

Fyson, Rachel; Patterson, Anne

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Authors

RACHEL FYSON rachel.fyson@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Social Work

Anne Patterson



Abstract

Background

A common factor in the abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings has been the failure of care staff and frontline managers to recognise poor practice at an early stage and prevent its development into a culture of abuse. In this context, staff understandings of abuse and poor practice in residential services for people with intellectual disabilities were explored.

Method

Semi‐structured interviews (n = 56) were undertaken with care staff and frontline managers working across England. Interviews included the use of vignettes, based on real‐life experiences of people with intellectual disabilities, to prompt discussion.

Results

Staff struggled to define either “abuse” or “poor practice”, focussing more on individual acts or omissions than on institutional practices. When faced with vignettes, staff demonstrated a lack of agreement regarding what constitutes either abuse or poor practice.

Conclusions

The implications for practice in residential care settings and for safeguarding training are discussed.

Citation

Fyson, R., & Patterson, A. (2020). Staff understandings of abuse and poor practice in residential settings for adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33(3), 354-363. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12677

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 24, 2019
Online Publication Date Oct 17, 2019
Publication Date 2020-05
Deposit Date Oct 21, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities
Print ISSN 1360-2322
Electronic ISSN 1468-3148
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 33
Issue 3
Pages 354-363
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12677
Keywords Education; Developmental and Educational Psychology
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2889446
Publisher URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jar.12677
Additional Information This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Fyson, R, Patterson, A. Staff understandings of abuse and poor practice in residential settings for adults with intellectual disabilities. J Appl Res Intellect Disabil. 2019; 00: 1– 10, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12677. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.

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