116 Chapter 4 Multiple participants mentioned being unable to achieve changes as the contact between dyads was too limited. Nevertheless, several participants did report subtle changes in social interaction. They indicated that patients interacted more openly with the coach, gained new perspectives, and participated more actively in social activities after FNC. Talking about the observed subtle social changes some coaches stated it remains uncertain whether these changes were an obvious result of their contact. However, some patients did indicate that the coach had helped them to go out more often and socialize more. It was suggested by coaches that contact with a coach could encourage patients to become more active and to seek contact with others. "I can only say it on the level of the communication he has towards me. In the last two months, he does ask a lot of questions and shows genuine interest in me as well. I don't dare say whether he does the same in contact with other people. I'm not there of course. [...] He is just much more relaxed actually, by the way, what I also notice is that he dares to ask questions. Whereas in the beginning, when we went to a restaurant and he wanted to order something, for example, it was just a matter of ‘Yes, you name it, I want this, I want that,” and now he just asks if he can have a salad with it. You know, something does change." – coach 030. In addition, most participants considered the development and maintenance of a social bond, in which they experienced social support or engaged in mutual activities, a meaningful achievement in itself. However, as mentioned before, in multiple cases patients and coaches failed to either develop or maintain a bond due to various circumstances (Theme 1 and 2). Many participants considered that meaningful changes could have occurred once they were able to develop a sustainable bond, in which they had longer and more frequent contact with each other. Even though mostly positive experiences of FNC were mentioned by participants on the whole, one coach did wonder whether the disrupted contact could be a discouraging and negative experience for the patient. Expansion of worldview and beliefs Many coaches reported that participation in FNC – contact with an individual from a different group in society – broadened their worldview and reduced stigmatic beliefs about forensic psychiatric patients. Most of the coaches had not personally met psychiatric patients with criminal histories or behaviors before volunteering in FNC. Several coaches mentioned being curious and interested to learn about the lives of forensic patients, which motivated them to participate in FNC. Coaches suggested it was unlikely that one would become familiar with patients in daily life because of the different backgrounds and living
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