A Social Constructionist Influenced Scoping Review of Addictions, Deviance and Crime: Biopsychosocial Perspectives for the Emerging Forensic Mental Health Nursing and Healthcare Services of the Middle East

Background: Nurses and healthcare professionals employed within correctional and forensic mental health settings encounter unique challenges in the care of their patients due to the custodial and restrictive environments. Regions within the Middle East, such as the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have experienced exponential economic and healthcare infrastructural development recently. Mental health has been prioritized for development by recent legislation and practice developments which incorporates the development of specialist Forensic psychiatry services mediating a need for specialized nurses and allied healthcare staff. Traditionally, forensic care was provided under general services. The need to progress specialist forensic services with a focus on the multi-disciplinary staff that seeks to develop safer communities, enhanced care and supporting the criminal justice system. Within the Middle East nurses and healthcare staff are employed from generic backgrounds and must rapidly adapt to the subjectivities of how patients and themselves are impacted by power relations, discourses and criminality of which their initial training maybe insufficient. Research Methods: The authors provide a review article that aims to provide a foundation for the nuances of forensic staff through social constructionism. The authors adopted the use of the framework of Arksey and O’Malley (2005). This enabled a systematic approach to searching the literature and creating a comprehensive foundation to guide the review. The use of a scoping review provided a better understanding of the compatibility, content, and outcomes to position the reader to the theoretical construct that society can be seen as existing in both an objective and subjective reality. This review article seeks to create an understanding on how the former reality is brought about through the interaction of patients involved in forensic mental health services and wider society. Discussion: The article explores addictions and associated deviant behaviours, allowing for an investigation into how nurses and healthcare practitioners in the Middle East might need to recognize the subjectivities of forensic healthcare with its fluid and dynamic constructs and how they need to practice outside dominant theories. This paper argues for preparedness of thought understood through social constructionism and demonstrates that it is envisaged that any frequently repeated action becomes cast into a pattern, which can be reproduced without much effort. The interconnectedness between the themes of addiction, deviance and crime allows for a holistic overview and therefore improved understanding for care providers. This was achieved through the bio-psychosocial model which creates an awareness of patient’s addictions, deviance and their lifestyle choices. Conclusion: Through the emergence of these complex forms of knowledge, deviance within the lives of patients can be better understood by the emerging professions employed within the emerging forensic healthcare services within the Middle East. These individuals are carefully and dutifully navigating the cultural complexities of mental illness, addictions and associated deviant behaviour.