Fundamentals of Mental Health

Fundamentals of Mental Health

Balancing security and therapy: Psychiatric inpatients’ perspectives on closed-circuit television surveillance

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Atefeh Ghanbari Jolfaei
Mehdi Nasr Esfahani
Razieh Salehian
Nafise Jahangiri Zarkani
Ahmadreza Pirhayati
Sara Nooraeen
Mohammad Pirhayati
Mental Health Research Center, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
10.22038/jfmh.2025.85919.3215
Abstract
Introduction: The use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in psychiatric wards aims to enhance security but raises ethical and therapeutic concerns. Existing literature often assumes its benefits without sufficient input from patients, particularly those with psychiatric disorders, prompting the need for further investigation into patients’ perspectives. This study aimed to assess psychiatric inpatients’ attitudes toward newly installed CCTV cameras in a teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran, and to examine whether psychiatric symptomatology influences these attitudes.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 adult inpatients who had been admitted for at least two weeks in the psychiatry ward of the Rasoul Akram Hospital, Tehran- Iran, in 2024. Participants completed a demographics questionnaire, a newly developed CCTV Attitude Survey (CAS) by our team, measuring attitudes in three domains (nursing performance, ward environment, and security assurance), and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) to identify psychiatric symptoms.


Results: Overall positive attitude was 35.4%. Security assurance had the highest positivity score (41.4%), followed by ward environment (36.1%) and nursing performance (32.5%). No significant differences in attitudes emerged by gender, education, marital status, or the presence of psychiatric symptomatology as measured by SCL-90-R.

Conclusion: Patients expressed moderate acceptance of CCTV, primarily valuing enhanced safety. However, the benefits regarding ward climate and nursing performance were less pronounced. Future guidelines should balance the perceived security advantages with ethical considerations of privacy and therapeutic engagement.
Keywords
Attitude
Closed-circuit television
Patient safety
Psychiatric patients
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Fundamentals of Mental Health
Volume 28, Issue 2
March and April 2026
Pages 117-123