Identity (re)construction and nursing practice in forensic psychiatry: a critical reflection about review boards

Introduction: The caritative impact of nursing care provided in forensic mental health settings is rarely questioned.
Context: Caritative nursing care is indirectly regulated by the Review Board (RB), a para-judicial court which ensures public safety.
Objective: This study presents a critical reflection on the political and social effects of the RB, forensic psychiatry hospitals and practices of forensic mental health nurses.
Method: The reflection is centered on the concepts of biopower, degradation ceremonies, moral career and identity (re)construction.
Results: ‘Therapeutic’ nursing practices are useful for disciplinary purposes in the forensic psychiatric hospital, insofar as they permit the identification and management of dangerous persons. However, the practices also fall within the biopolitical scope of the RB, since they assist the latter in ensuring public safety.
Discussion: The forensic psychiatric environment can prove problematic for nurses, requiring a double allegiance, whereby their responsibilities to patients (consent and confidentiality) and to the institution (protection of the public) can lead to tension.
Conclusion: The analytical framework of the study allows for a reassessment of other presumed processes in psychiatric environments, which nonetheless constitute just as many rituals of identity (re)construction.