A community forensic team for people with intellectual disabilities
| Pages | 274-282 |
| Date | 14 November 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-02-2016-0012 |
| Published date | 14 November 2016 |
| Author | Morna Browning,Rosemary Gray,Rose Tomlins |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Forensic practice,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Law enforcement/correctional,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
A community forensic team for people
with intellectual disabilities
Morna Browning, Rosemary Gray and Rose Tomlins
Morna Browning is a Clinical
Psychologist and Rosemary
Gray is a Trainee Forensic
Psychologist, both at
Community Forensic Team,
Learning Disability Service,
Birmingham Community
Healthcare NHS Trust,
Birmingham, UK.
Rose Tomlins is a Research
Assistant at Learning Disability
Service, Birmingham
Community Healthcare NHS
Trust, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics of adults with intellectual disabilities
supported by a Community Forensic Learning Disability Team (CFT) and interventions delivered. It discusses
the clinical implications of these and examines outcomes such as recidivism.
Design/methodology/approach –A retrospective case note review of all 70 service users open to the CFT
during June 2013 was carried out, using a structured service evaluation tool.
Findings –The majority of service users (74.3 per cent) had a mild intellectualdisability. Multiple mental health and/
or physical health diagnoses were common, and 28 per ce nt had problematic drug or alcohol abuse. Almost half of
service users had been victims of physical or sexual abuse, or neglect. Sexual offences were the most common
index offence, followed by assault and fire-setting. A wide range of multi-disciplinary interventions were delivered
within the Community Forensic Team. Following CFT involvement there was an increase in service users living in
supported living in the community and a decrease in people in secure or out of area placements.Over half of service
users engaged in no further offending behaviour since their referral, and those whodid offend generally showed a
decrease in the severity of offending behaviours. There was a large decreas ei n the number of convictions received.
Practical implications –The study shows the benefits of a multi-disciplinary Community Forensic Team for
offenders with intellectual disabilities in terms of reduced recidivism and range of interventions delivered.
It highlights the importance of clinicians within such a team having the skills to work with people with
co-morbid diagnoses (e.g. autism) and people with trauma backgrounds and problematic substance use.
Originality/value –This paper demonstrates the complexity of the service users who are supported by the
CFT, as well as the integral role played in supporting individuals to move to less restrictive settings, with
positive outcomes.
Keywords Intellectual disability, Treatment, Recidivism, Outcomes, Interventions, Offending,
Demographics, Clinical characteristics, Community forensic team, Conviction
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Forensic Learning Disability service provision varies widely across the UK (Royal College of
Psychiatrists, 2014), with only a small number of Community Forensic Teams (CFTs) for people
with intellectual disabilities in England. Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust developed
a CFT for people with intellectual disabilities in 2002, following the closure of many large hospitals
in the 1980s and 1990s and the subsequent need to develop local community services.
More recently, following the abuse of people with intellectual disabilities uncovered at
Winterbourne View Hospital in 2011, there has been a further drive to discharge people with
intellectual disabilities from hospital into the community, where appropriate, e.g. “Winterbourne
View: Time for Change”(Transforming Care and Commissioning Steering Group, 2014).
The CFT provides multi-disciplinary input (psychiatry, nursing, psychology, speech and language
therapy, occupational therapy) to people with intellectual disabilities who have committed or are
Received 17 February 2016
Revised 3 May 2016
10 June 2016
15 July 2016
Accepted 18 July 2016
No sources of external research
funding. Many thanks to Carl
Benton and Dr Farooq Ahmad for
their comments on this paper.
PAGE274
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JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PRACTICE
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VOL. 18 NO. 4 2016, pp. 274-282, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8794 DOI 10.1108/JFP-02-2016-0012
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