A community EQUIP treatment group
| Date | 11 June 2018 |
| Published date | 11 June 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-03-2018-0004 |
| Pages | 69-80 |
| Author | Shaw Tearle,Rachel R. Holt |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Education,Special education/gifted education,Emotional/behavioural disorders |
A community EQUIP treatment group
Shaw Tearle and Rachel R. Holt
Abstract
Purpose –There is a pressing need to develop community forensic support for adults with intellectual
disabilities and a high risk to others. Equipping youth to help one another (EQUIP) was developed for juvenile
offenders in the USA and is used across Europe and North America. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate
an adapted community model of EQUIP for men with intellectual disabilities and a history of sexual offending.
Design/methodology/approach –A case series design was used. The adapted EQUIP group ran for one
session per week over ten months, with each participant accompanied by a support worker. Six men living in
the community with intellectual disabilities and a history of sexual offending completed the programme.
Findings –Analysis of the results suggests that this adapted version of EQUIP produced similar results to
the programme delivered in an inpatient setting. Participants’reasoning and problem-solving abilities were
improved post-intervention. Satisfaction levels from participant and their support workers were high. There
was no evidence of recidivism during the ten months the group ran.
Research limitations/implications –The case series design utilised only allows the conclusion that the
changes above occurred at the same time as the group. Further research is needed to ascertain whether it is
likely that the intervention resulted in the changes.
Practical implications –There is a pressing need to develop the evidence base for interventions offered in
the community to people with intellectual disabilities and a history of offending. This study provides some
evidence that EQUIP can be adapted to suit this population.
Social implications –The availability of community interventions may, over time, decrease the need for
detention in inpatient settings. This is in line with the transforming care agenda.
Originality/value –This is the first published research into use of EQUIP in the community with adult
participants with intellectual disabilities.
Keywords Community, Intervention, Disabilities, Offending, Intellectual, EQUIP
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Approximately, 10 per cent of people known to intellectual disability services come into contact
with the criminal justice system (Murphy, 2015). Bradley’s (2009) report reviewed people with
mental health problems or intellectual disabilities in the criminal justice system. The report
proposed principles of support in the community for people with intellectual disabilities who
offend, including greater community understanding of offending behaviour.
More recently, the transforming care programme has given increased impetus to improve health
and care services so that more people can live in the community, with the right support (Houlden,
2015). This includes delivery of specialist community-based forensic support to meet the needs
of adults with an intellectual disability who present an active and high risk to others (Elliott, 2017).
A key aim is to reduce the number of people with intellectual disabilities who are in secure
settings, by developing community capacity to provide a variety of functions including evidence-
based interventions. Public safety is also a key consideration as more people move from secure
settings to the community, with studies suggesting that the recidivism rate of sexual offenders
with intellectual disabilities is 6.8 times and 3.5 times that of non-disabled sexual offenders at
two- and four-years’follow-up, respectively (Craig and Hutchinson, 2005).
The “Good Thinking”course (Goodman et al., 2011) is a community-based intervention for
people with intellectual disabilities and a history of offending. It aims to help participants to identify
and understand their goals, develop the social skills necessary to attain them and teaches a
Received 1 March 2018
Revised 30 May 2018
Accepted 1 June 2018
Shaw Tearle and Rachel R. Holt
both based at the Offending
Behaviour Intervention Service,
Hertfordshire Partnership
University NHS Foundation
Trust, Radlett, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-03-2018-0004 VOL. 9 NO.2 2018, pp. 69-80, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN2050-8824
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
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