Professionals' Experience of Deaf Offenders With Mental Health Difficulties

Limited research is available on Deaf offenders with mental health difficulties. The present study focused on developing greater understanding of professionals' experiences with this population and the factors that influence its involvement with services. Using a grounded theory approach, the researchers explored the experiences of police officers and mental health professionals through semistructured interviews. The analysis led to development of a theoretical model of factors, represented in five categories. The model suggests that when Deaf offenders with mental health difficulties comes into contact with either the health-care or justice system, there are factors associated with the system they are in contact with, the individual professional involved, and the offender themselves, that are moderated via relational factors. This study offers a tentative theoretical model providing multiple avenues for exploration and supports existing literature on Deaf people's experiences with mental health professionals.