Background Last week we posted about the recent multi agency inspection of responses to people with learning disabilities in the criminal justice system which suggested that information was poorly shared and that significant improvements were possible. The researchers in this study worked in a large London metropolitan police station and were interested in looking at [read the full story…]
Background We know that people with learning disabilities in the criminal justice system can be especially vulnerable, and the recent Bradley report highlighted a number of approaches that could be taken to prevent this vulnerable group being caught in the revolving door of the criminal justice system. It is unclear however how many people with [read the full story…]
Background Published research in the last few years has shed some light on the experiences of people with learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, with significant evidence emerging of their vulnerability. The authors of this current study however, were interested in the ways in which people might, or might not, become involved in the [read the full story…]
Background Recent events have highlighted the increased risk of abuse faced by people with learning disabilities. Local authorities regularly collect data on adult protection referrals and one study has looked at trends that have emerged from analysis of this data Last year, we posted about a study based on in-depth interviews focusing on the experience [read the full story…]
Background Prisoners have general health needs similar to those found in the general population, although there is a higher incidence of substance misuse and mental health problems as well as a range of health issues which are consequences of imprisonment. In 2007, a Prison Reform trust paper ‘No One Knows‘ suggested that between 20 and [read the full story…]
Background Anti-social behaviour is a key issue of public concern with significant numbers of people reporting behaviours such as vandalism, graffiti and litter as problems in their local area. The Crime and Disorder Act (1998) defines anti-social behaviour as ‘Acting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to [read the full story…]
New research published today in the Lancet shows that up to one in four women prisoners in England and Wales self-harm every year. The largest study of self-harm in prisons also reports that female prisoners are four times more likely to self-harm than male inmates. Previous systematic reviews have investigated self-harm in prisons (Lohner, 2007 and Dixon-Gordon, [read the full story…]
Criminology has used strain theory as a way of looking at how certain social structures within a society may produce pressure on citizens to commit crime, identifying strain as either structural, e.g. processed at the societal level ,or individual referring to difficulties experienced in moving towards satisfying needs There has been little attempt to use [read the full story…]
Cognitive behavioural therapy has been recognised as the leading method of treatment for non-disabled men who have committed sexual offences, but men with learning disabilities are often excluded from such treatment groups. However, there is a growing body of evidence of the effectiveness of this approach for men with learning disabilities as well. There have [read the full story…]
The British Crime Survey suggests that 9 out of ten disabled people have been the victims of disability hate crime, but Mencap’s Don’t Stand By report suggested that only around 3% of incidents are recorded by the police as hate crimes with only 1% leading to convictions. The researchers in this three-year project set out [read the full story…]
