Designing Solutions for Improved Support within Health, Social Care and Criminal Justice for Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism who Have Offended
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Author | ANDREA HOLLOMOTZ,JENNY TALBOT |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12414 |
The Howard Journal Vol60 No 2. June 2021 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12414
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 185–208
Designing Solutions for Improved
Support within Health, Social Care
and Criminal Justice for Adults with
Learning Disabilities and/or Autism
who Have Offended
ANDREA HOLLOMOTZ with JENNY TALBOT
Andrea Hollomotz is Lecturer, Department of Sociology and Social Policy,
University of Leeds; Jenny Talbot is Director, Care not Custody Programme,
Prison Reform Trust
Abstract: People with learning disabilities and/or autism encounter considerable
challenges on the pathways through the criminal justice and/or forensic health systems.
This article presents a thematic analysis of focused discussions between users, profession-
als and practitioners from health, social care and criminal justice. It is informed by the
social model of disability, which dictates its focus on solutions for maximising the full
and effective participation of disabled users. Informants raised key challenges, including
indirect disability discrimination and risk aversive practice, and evidenced innovative
solutions. These include person-centred, multi-agency working, screening, information
sharing, inclusive service design, nurturing sustainable key relationships and long-term
community support.
Keywords: autism; desistance; forensic social care; intellectual disabilities;
learning disabilities; offender rehabilitation; personalisation; public sector
equality duty; reasonable adjustments; social model of disability
Foreword
Over a decade ago, when I published my review of people with
mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice sys-
tem (Bradley 2009) and at the time of the event described in this paper,
we could not predict the unique situation we would find ourselves in now.
Building on progress made and learning from our successes is challenging
during a global pandemic.
The restrictions brought by COVID-19 have created difficulties in the
lives of many people with learning disabilities and/or autism, who may
struggle due to a break in routines, and many of the good practices
185
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2021 The Authors. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League
and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which per-
mits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The Howard Journal Vol60 No 2. June 2021
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 185–208
described in this paper are faced with additional challenges at a time when
social distancing is a necessity. Person-centred working and bringing to-
gether multiple agencies to develop joint solutions requires repeat contact.
Many people with learning disabilities and/or autism find it harder than
others to participate effectively in online meeting formats. This creates new
barriers to involving this group in the design and delivery of services.
Making time for training or to attend multi-agency planning meetings
has become a luxury, as many desk-based staff across CJS and forensic set-
tings are recalled to the frontline to respond to the Covid-19 crisis. We
must guard against silo working and make extra efforts to maintain effec-
tive working relations for multi-agency cooperation and in our work with
people with learning disabilities and/or autism.
It is encouraging to see the recent commitment by the Secretary of State
for Justice to undertake a programme of work leading to better identifi-
cation and support of people with neurodiversity, and I look forward to
contributing to that work (gov.uk 2020). In addition, many frontline ser-
vices such as Liaison and Diversion, Appropriate Adults and Intermedi-
aries have continued to provide much needed support. Tofurther improve
the lives of people with learning disabilities and/or autism who have been
caught up in the CJS or forensic settings we must ensure that learning from
events such as this is built upon as we return to more ‘normal’ conditions.
The Rt Hon. Lord Bradley of Withington in December 2020
Introduction
People with learning disabilities and/or autism who have offended
encounter considerable challenges on the pathways through the criminal
justice and/or forensic health systems in England and there is a growing
body of literature that explains these challenges, which is explored shortly.
These include the likely over-representation of people with learning dis-
abilities and/or autism in the criminal justice system (CJS), experiences of
inhumane or degrading treatment and a high incidence of reoffending.
Sociological research into the causes for these experiences enables a focus
on broader social issues, which act as ascendants to what are often seen as
‘individual troubles’, as C. Wright Mills (1959) would put it, such as per-
sistent cycles of reoffending. This article uses the social model of disability
(Oliver, Sapey and Thomas 2012) to achieve this objective. In short, this
means that, instead of focusing on individual pathology, our focus is on
how services and environments need to change.
The current literature and findings from this study suggest that health,
criminal justice and social care do often not collaborate as effectively as
they could when responding to the often-complex needs of people with
learning disabilities and/or autism who have offended. This is why this
article presents solutions, which were collaboratively developed by some
of the most innovative users, practitioners and professionals from across
186
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2021 The Authors. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League
and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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