ABSTRACT

While no one would claim that being restrained is a therapeutic experience for the person at the receiving end, it is often argued that restraint is only ever used where there is no alternative and therefore it is ultimately in someone's best interests. However, for many people the experience of being restrained is traumatic and leaves lasting psychological scars. This chapter tells in their own words the experiences of members of the CAPITAL Project, a service user-led training and research group. These collected experiences raise questions about whether restraint can ever be justified or whether the time has come to develop more humane ways of reacting to challenging situations.