Abstract
Objectives: The benefits of religion/spirituality for people living with experiences of mental disorder or incarceration are well-researched in North America. Limited attention has been paid to equivalent populations in the UK and even less so to forensic mental health service users. This paper aims to explore the lived experience of high secure hospital service users who have identified religion/spirituality as holding personal importance. In particular, the paper aims to explore the role of religion/spirituality in the process of recovery from mental disorder and offending behaviour. Design: A semi-structured interview design was adopted. Methods: Men from a high secure hospital with a self-identified religious/spiritual identity were interviewed individually. A maximum variation sampling procedure was used in order to include men across services and levels of care within the hospital. Data were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis due to its focus on the subjective lived experience of service users. Results: Four superordinate themes were identified: ‘Religion/Spirituality as an Element of Recovery’; ‘Personal Identity’; ‘Pro-Social Engagement’ and ‘Obstacles’. Together, these themes reflect service users’ views on the role of religion/spirituality in personal recovery and challenges that may prevent this role from being fully facilitated. Conclusions: The results are discussed in relation to the extant literature and implications for practice are considered.