Women's Experiences in Psychiatric and Forensic Units: An Integrative Review

An integrative literature review exploring women's experiences in psychiatric and forensic units, authored by A. Lessard and last updated in June 2026. The review synthesizes findings from 54 articles identified through database and grey literature searches, employing an intersectional approach and thematic analysis. It examines themes of gender-based violence, trauma, reproductive care, and institutional responses.

Use Cases

• Analyze themes of gender-based violence and coercion in psychiatric hospitalization based on the review's findings.
• Study systemic and interpersonal barriers to safe care for women in forensic units based on the described thematic analysis.
• Identify potential initiatives to address institutional gender violence based on the 'paths forward' theme outlined in the results.

Strengths

• The review is based on a synthesis of 54 articles, providing a substantial foundation for its conclusions.
• It employs an intersectional approach and incorporates lived experience knowledge, as stated in the methods.
• The work is licensed under CC-BY-4.0, allowing for broad reuse and sharing.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 22.9 KB DOCX file, indicating a limited textual scope rather than a large-scale data collection.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent, limiting assessment of structured data content.
• The description focuses on the review's conclusions; the underlying extracted data or coding framework is not provided.

Provenance

Source

A. Lessard via figshare

Collection Method

Integrative literature review of six databases supplemented by grey literature searches.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 04:30:27