An exploration of factors contributing to ethnic disparities in compulsory detention with a focus on Black women's experiences

In the UK, there are ethnic disparities in the rate of compulsory detention, with Black people being more likely than White British people to be detained against their will. Part I of this thesis explores the reasons underlying the disparities and proposes a new model to explain the underlying causes. The new model considers the contexts in which the Black person being assessed under the mental health act and the healthcare professionals conducting the assessment are situated. It also outlines mechanisms and inter- and intra-personal processes that interact to influence how both parties behave and make decisions during the sectioning process. Part II of the thesis is comprised of an empirical paper exploring four Black women’s experiences of the decision being made for them to be compulsorily detained and the factors that they believe influenced that decision. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to explore how the women made sense of their experiences. Results demonstrated that the women found the experience of being detained to be distressing and that meaningful relationships helped them to manage. Where care provision did not feel sufficient, they acknowledged the under-resourced nature of the healthcare system. The women believed that their behaviour and mental health needs were primary reasons for the decision being made to compulsorily detain them. Part III of the thesis provides a critical appraisal of the research process, with a particular focus on how the researcher’s identity influenced and interacted with the research topic