Skellern, JoanneLovell, Andy2020-04-032020-04-03Lovell, A. & Skellern, J. (2020). Making sense of complexity: A qualitative investigation into forensic learning disability nurses’ interpretation of the contribution of personal history to offending behaviour. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48(3), 242-250. https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.123251354-418710.1111/bld.12325http://hdl.handle.net/10034/623306An article exploring the relationship between an individual's personal history and social background and eventual offending behaviour.Background: There is growing recognition that an individual’s personal history can be extremely influential in shaping his/her future experience, though there has been limited exploration in the context of learning disability and offending behaviour. Method: Research questions related to participant interpretation of offending behaviour and individual and service responses. A series of focus groups comprising learning disability forensic nurses were conducted across all secure settings, high, medium and low. Results: Three themes were produced: interpreting offending behaviour; the impact of personal history; responding therapeutically. The difficulties relating to understanding the relationship between offending behaviour and personal history significantly informed the construction of the most effective therapeutic relationships. Conclusions: An increased focus on the impact of someone’s background might inform nursing as it seeks to deliver care to individuals with increasingly complex needs in a time of service transition.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Offending behaviourLearning disabilityPersonal historyTraumaArticle1468-3156British Journal of Learning Disabilities