Background: Services have a duty to uphold the personal and sexual relationship (P&SR) rights of adults with intellectual disability. However, little is known about how social care workers' (SCWs) perceptions of public views of intellectual disability and sexuality might affect their attitudes, believes and behaviours towards supporting P&SR needs. This exploratory study addresses this gap in knowledge.
Materials and methods: Qualitative interviews using critical incident technique were conducted with 18 SCWs. Data were transcribed and thematically analysed.
Results: Four dominant themes were identified; socio-cultural, practice-policy gaps, fear and safety needs. These highlights how perceptions of public attitudes impact on SCWs' attitudes towards supporting development of P&SR both directly and through perceptions of organisational policies. This leads to prioritisation of safety needs over support for P&SR.
Conclusions: Public expectations strongly influenced SCWs' interpretation of organisational policy, emphasising a need for practice-based support to manage public expectations and reduce fear.
Keywords: behaviour; believes; critical incident technique; personal/sexual relationships; social care workers; social/personal attitudes.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.