Pupil experiences of physical restraint in school, their relationships with staff members, and alternative strategies

Abstract

Background: Physical restraint involves the use of physical contact to restrict or influence the movements of another person and is used in schools to manage pupil behaviour that is harmful to themselves or others. Concerns have arisen regarding potential overuse of physical restraint in schools and a lack of legislation around its recording. Research suggests that pupils with special educational needs and primary-aged pupils are most likely to be physically restrained, but their views are largely absent from the literature. Methods/ participants: Paper one is a systematic literature review investigating alternative approaches and interventions used in educational settings in an attempt to reduce the frequency and/or duration of physical restraint. In the second paper, the views of four primary-aged pupils were gathered via semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences of physical restraint, relationships with staff members, and alternative strategies. Analysis/ findings: The systematic literature review found that the majority of the fifteen studies saw a decrease in the frequency and/or duration of physical restraint in educational settings following the introduction of alternative strategies. The paper discusses the facilitative aspects of school-wide and individual interventions that led to positive outcomes. Paper two's findings discuss the overall negative experiences of physical restraint that pupils shared, and the variation around whether they could separate these feelings from members of staff implementing the restraint. Conclusion/ implications: Educational settings have successfully reduced the use of physical restraint using alternative school-wide or individual interventions, with some results being maintained longitudinally. Pupil ideas around alternative strategies in paper two complement these findings, as well as the consideration around the interplay between physical restraint and pupil-staff relationships. Implications for Educational Psychologists include the importance of sensitively obtaining pupil views in situations where physical restraint is part of a behavioural management plan. Paper three discusses the dissemination of these results to Educational Psychologists and other professionals.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Caroline Bond (Supervisor) & Emma Harding (Supervisor)