Supporting offenders with multiple needs

Personality difficulties provide challenges to offender management, particularly in regard to risk and diagnosis. No provisions exist for identifying personality disturbance in probation services, despite a political emphasis on the need for specialist knowledge of this group in the criminal justice system. This article reports on a pilot project where mental health professionals collaborated with probation services to develop methods of identifying personality disturbance in a London sample. There was a disproportionately large ratio of Black/Black British individuals identified in this study. There was a high prevalence of personality problems in probation caseloads. Different sampling methods identified separate groups of high risk personality disturbed offenders. All individuals identified carried a high risk of re-offending, based on static risk assessments. Emphasis was given to the importance of using developmental variables to help identify adult personality disturbance. The study discovered a potential gap in the method by which data is collected by the national offender management service, omitting lifer custody cases in their assessment of dangerous and severe personality disorder individuals. Ideas for future research were provided.

The period for this analysis is primarily from 2010 to 2015. Initially, though, it is necessary to reiterate thematic continuities with previous bouts of privatisation in the 1980s,1 followed by the National Offender Management Service on contestability. Next, in 2005, the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, moved in the direction of market testing probation, before the Offender Management Act 2007 normalised competition. Consequently, the first task produces a documentary review from 2008 when the conservative party was in opposition. This review exposes criminal justice transformations to the paradox of frantic activity conducted in moral silence. Second, Payment by Results constitutes a material signifier of reconstruction which provokes moral questions. Third, it is pertinent to embed criminal justice revolutionary activity within a broader historical, politico-economic context.

Housing improvement and self-reported mental distress among council estate residents

Abstract: This article considers the implications for anti‐racist practice2 in probation and prisons of the development of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The development of anti‐racist work is considered in the context of an increasingly managerialist approach to criminal justice. Essentially, it is argued that the histories of racism and anti‐racist work in the prison and probation services, and the underpinnings of such work – that is, the individual and organisational characteristics that have influenced the respective identities of those agencies – are critical and undervalued factors in the current change process. This in turn has concerning implications for the development of an anti‐racist identity for NOMS.

Without in any way minimising the continuing gaps in provision and the potential to do more, it is important to recognise that the Prison Service has made enormous progress with resettlement work in recent years. My predecessor renamed the Directorate of Regimes, transforming it into the Directorate of Resettlement, a change which signalled a new focus on outcomes and outward connections rather than process and internal procedures. We have been working ever more closely with colleagues in Probation and an increasingly wide range of other departments, agencies and voluntary and community organisations. The establishment of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) will bring structural changes, as the centre of the developing organisation takes responsibility for strategic policy. Quite when and how those changes will happen is not yet clear. But the establishment of NOMS is an important affirmation of the work we have been doing and an opportunity to take it to another level, through stronger and wi...

This article explores the development of an offender personality disorder strategy for the Department of Health (DH) and National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The strategy has two strands: offenders who present a high risk of serious harm to others, and workforce development. This article primarily considers the first of these. The strategy builds upon the learning so far from the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) programme and democratic therapeutic communities in prisons. This indicates the need for NOMS and the NHS to take joint responsibility for the assessment, treatment and management of this population and to deliver services, where appropriate, through joint operations. A greater focus is required on the early identification of personality disordered offenders who present a high risk of serious harm to others, leading to an active pathway of intervention predominately based in the criminal justice system (CJS).

'Tough on probation': probation practice under the National Offender Management Service

The Children (Nl) Order 1995 was implemented in November 1996. This paper summarises the findings of a research project carried out by the Centre for Child Care Research studying the initial impact of the Order on the planning and provision of personal social services for disabled children and their families. The Order recognises disabled children as children first and foremost and raises their profile and priority in social policy in relation to families and child care. The research found that there had been some development of support services with indications of increased service delivery, and re-structuring of organisational arrangements. Generally, researchers found that professionals in both statutory and voluntary agencies thought that the profile of disabled children had been raised within Health and Social Service Trusts. There was also evidence of improved partnership working with other statutory agencies and with the voluntary sector, and developments in terms of partnership working with parents. However, progress has been slow regarding implementing the registers of disabled children and in developing ways of listening to the views of disabled children. In addition, the need for good information sources is becoming critical to both needs assessment and service provision, so that real advancement can be made towards the development of needs-led services. The research found that, while progress has been made in implementing the Children (Nl) Order in relation to disabled children, there is still some way to go if the underpinning philosophy is to be fully achieved.

In this piece about the future role of the probation service the author follows the Churchillian adage of looking back in order to go forward. He considers the experience of the service under the Labour Government, in particular the impact of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) ‘project’, before going on to examine the intentions — good and bad — of the Coalition Government. Inevitably, it is necessary to ponder the likely substantial cuts to the probation service in line with the broader cuts to the public sector promised in the budget announcements but the author concludes by focusing on the potential opportunity for the service if a more progressive sentencing policy is pursued.

Disabled people are noticeably absent from the government's regeneration agenda, despite its current emphasis on empowering and involving local communities in urban renewal. This paper explores some of the barriers to disabled people's involvement in regeneration initiatives at the local level, focusing particularly on the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB). Interviews with regeneration managers, local authority officers, disabled people and disability groups identified a range of barriers. These included a lack of strategic recognition that disabled people were ‘relevant’ to regeneration, difficulties with the SRB's centrally-prescribed outputs and timescales, a lack of accessible information for disabled people, and circumscribed local political networks which served to marginalize certain disability groups from local regeneration processes. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which some of these barriers might be addessed.

There is increasing international concern over the rising number of children involved in labour, particularly in developing countries. Despite the multitude of related risk factors, and some evidence on their social needs, there has been limited research on these children's mental health. The aim of this study was to establish the association between labour-related variables and mental health problems among 780 children in labour (aged 9-18 years, mean 15.8) in the Gaza Strip. Measures included a demographic checklist, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale and the Depression Self-rating Scale for Children. Children came from large families (73.2% had eight or more siblings), mainly worked to increase family income, worked an average 6.8 h per day (range 1-16), and only 37.1% had regular rest. Ratings of mental health problems were predicted by different factors, i.e. total difficulties scores by poor friendship relationships and lack of health insurance; anxiety scores by selling in the streets, working to help family, low family income and lack of health insurance; and depression scores by parents' dissatisfaction with the job and longer working hours. Mental health problems of children in labour are likely to be associated with socio economic determinants, as well as factors related to their under age employment. Policy, legislation and preventive programmes from statutory and voluntary agencies should adopt an integrated approach in meeting their mental health needs, by enhancing protective factors such as return to school.

Globally, the statistics on sexual recidivism serve as an important indicator of the effectiveness of mental health policies for treating the sex offenders. Concerning the management of sex offenders, the mental health policies and the legislations enacted to aid and guide these policies are aimed at reducing sexual recidivism through reliable and scientifically proven therapeutic interventions. An analysis of the sexual recidivism outcome in the USA, UK and European regions will establish a comparative framework for assessing and redesigning the mental health policy initiatives and implementations in India. The data derived through a systematic search on various journal databases, bibliographic databases, published and unpublished articles and reports, web sources, and other online databases has been used for analyzing the impact and outcomes of the mental health policies implemented across the reference regions viz., the USA, UK, Europe and India. The analysis of the data revealed that the sexual recidivism rates in India is higher than that of those in the UK and various European countries and the effectiveness of the sex offender treatment programs in India is significantly lower compared to those observed in the UK and the USA. Across all the reference regions considered in this study, including India, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has emerged as a particularly effective treatment model. The situation regarding sexual offenses and the management of offenders in India presents several challenges that need to be addressed to improve public safety and support rehabilitation efforts. India’s National Sex Offenders Registry is a crucial tool for tracking individuals convicted of sexual crimes, but the absence of recidivism data limits the ability to understand the effectiveness of current interventions and the risk factors associated with reoffending.

A Comparison of Assertive Community Treatment and Intensive Case Management for Patients in Rural Areas

This article describes and comments upon the process of developing the Sanctuary project in London, a project that will provide two community-based crisis support services for African and African-Caribbean women and men in mental crisis and distress. This initiative is informed by the extensive research documenting the ways in which mainstream, mental health services fail Black people, and by evidence suggesting that innovations in service provision for Black people are often vulnerable and limited in their impact. In an effort to avoid replicating these problems, considerable emphasis has been given to developing the project in partnership with the main stakeholders—in this instance statutory and Black voluntary sector agencies as well as Black users, carers and community members. Within this context, issues relating to inequalities can be proactively addressed, thereby reducing the risk that they undermine the effectiveness of service provision at a later stage. However, working in partnership can also hinder or delay service developments if discussions between stakeholders become protracted or conflicts unresolved. The author draws on experience gained from this project to identify the potential as well as the difficulties of using a partnership approach to developing effective Black mental health provision. The author's role in the development of these projects has been as representative of one of the partners, the King's Fund Centre for Development.

Information about mental health systems is essential for mental health planning to reduce the burden of neuropsychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, many low- and middle-income countries lack systematic information on their mental health systems. The objectives, scope, structure, and contents of mental health assessment and monitoring instruments commonly used in high-income countries may not be appropriate for use in middle- and low-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently developed the WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS), a comprehensive assessment tool for mental health systems designed for middle- and low-income countries. WHO-AIMS was developed through an iterative process that included input from in-country and international experts on the clarity, content, validity, and feasibility of the instrument, as well as a pilot trial. The resulting instrument, WHO-AIMS 2.2, consists of six domains: policy and legislative framework, mental health services, mental health in primary care, human resources, public information and links with other sectors, and monitoring and research. These domains address the ten recommendations of the World Health Report 2001 through 28 facets and 155 items. All six domains need to be assessed to form a basic, yet broad, picture of a mental health system, with a focus on health sector activities. WHO-AIMS provides essential information for mental health policy and service delivery. Countries will be able to develop information-based mental health policy and plans with clear baseline information and targets. Moreover, they will be able to monitor progress in implementing reform policies, providing community services, and involving consumers, families, and other stakeholders in mental health promotion, prevention, care and rehabilitation. This article provides an overview of the rationale, development process, and potential uses and benefits of WHO-AIMS.