This article considers the ethical aspects of working in secure environments and discusses some of the issues which provide a basis for ethical concern and debate

Intended learning outcomes

After reading this article and completing the exercises you should be able to:

• Discuss the application of ethics to practice and identify some of the misconceptions concerning ethics

• Explain the fundamental purpose of secure mental health services

• Identify some of the ethical questions which the provision of secure forensic mental health services raise

• Discuss the wider moral context in which secure services are placed

• Examine some of the practical ethical dilemmas which may be encountered in secure environments

• Consider the factors which may aid ethical decision-making.