Lived Experiences of Transgender Inmates in Barcelona Prisons: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study.
Jordi Sererols-Serra, Juan M Leyva-Moral
PMID 40968470WHAT IT FOUND
Eight transgender inmates described prison healthcare as stigmatizing and fragmented, and valued care when nurses used chosen names and listened.
They reported interrupted hormones, inadequate mental health and sexual health support, isolation called protection, and recurrent suicidal thoughts.
Key findings
01Participants described stigma and communication deficits from health professionals, including inconsistent use of their chosen names.
02Access to hormones, mental health care and sexual health support was described as uncertain, insufficient or punitive.
03Isolation described as protective was reported as harmful, and three participants reported active suicidal ideation in prison.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Eight participants from one prison area in Barcelona, so the themes may not apply to other prisons or countries. The interviewer was a prison staff member with existing relationships with participants; this may have supported openness but also ties data collection to the institution. Interviews were translated from Spanish to English, which may have altered meaning. Participants had extensive trauma histories and prison-specific vulnerabilities, so findings do not describe all transgender people. The study reports experiences and cannot show that any care approach improves outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not generalise these findings to all transgender prisoners or treat them as evidence that a specific care model works. Eight interviews describe experiences in one Barcelona prison area and cannot show cause or effect.