Research suggests a therapy rooms condition impacts clients’ perceptions of their practitioner’s competence, and quality of care. Additionally, it can impact therapeutic relationships, comfort, and engagement. Research in prisons and general forensic practice in this area is scant, despite the challenges facing prison interventions being widely acknowledged. The current REA evaluated evidence from forensic and psychotherapy literature to inform recommendations for delivering prison-based interventions.
A Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) was undertaken to synthesise findings from qualitative and quantitative research. The search returned five qualitative studies and two quantitative studies that met the inclusion criteria. All studies were critically appraised using an established quality assurance framework. The results indicated that physical space impacts therapeutic relationships, engagement, feelings of safety and comfort, and feelings of connectedness. This REA helps us understand what adjustments can be made to physical spaces to support interventions in prisons.
The findings from this REA highlight the scarcity of forensic research in this area. Despite this, the findings from psychotherapy practice included in this REA provide considerations for prison interventions and suggest that the physical environment in which interventions are delivered, is important to client engagement. This REA offers several recommendations for simple and low-cost changes that can improve the space in which prison interventions are delivered.
