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1 – 10 of 12Iain McKinnon, Julie Thorp and Don Grubin
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First to ascertain the efficacy of current police reception screening to detect detainees with intellectual disability (ID). Second to assess…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First to ascertain the efficacy of current police reception screening to detect detainees with intellectual disability (ID). Second to assess the validity of a short targeted screen for ID among police custody detainees.
Design/methodology/approach
The study comprised three stages. First, 248 police custody detainees were assessed for a range of health morbidities, including a pragmatic clinical evaluation of ID. For those with suspected ID, the police custody screens were scrutinised for evidence that this had been detected. Second, a new police health screen, incorporating a short screen for ID, was piloted. Totally, 351 detainees were assessed in the same way as in part 1 with the new screens being scrutinised for evidence that ID had been detected where relevant. Third, the new police screen for ID was validated among a sample of 64 inpatients, some with ID and some without, from forensic inpatient services. Parts 1 and 2 were carried out in the Metropolitan Police Service, London. Part 3 took place in one NHS Trust.
Findings
In parts 1 and 2, the rate of detainees with suspected ID was 2-3 per cent. The standard police screen detected 25 per cent of these detainees in part 1. When the new screen was introduced in part 2, the sensitivity for ID increased to 83 per cent. However, there was no requisite improvement in the proportion of detainees with ID receiving an Appropriate Adult. In the inpatient study, the new screen showed a good level of sensitivity (91 per cent) and reasonable specificity (63 per cent).
Practical implications
It is possible to improve the detection rate of detainees with suspected ID by introducing a short ID screen into the police custody officers’ reception health screen.
Originality/value
The Health Screening of People in Police Custody (HELP-PC) study is a project evaluating screening for health morbidity among police custody detainees. Other data from this study have been reported elsewhere, but this is the first time the data pertaining to ID screening has been reported in detail.
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Matt Tonkin and Martin Joseph Weeks
The purpose of this paper is to understand (i) how crime linkage is currently performed with residential burglaries in New Zealand, (ii) the factors that promote/hinder accurate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand (i) how crime linkage is currently performed with residential burglaries in New Zealand, (ii) the factors that promote/hinder accurate crime linkage and (iii)whether computerised decision-support tools might assist crime linkage practice.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 39 New Zealand Police staff completed a questionnaire/interview/focus group relating to the process, challenges, products and uses of crime linkage with residential burglary in New Zealand. These data (alongside four redacted crime linkage reports) were subjected to thematic analysis.
Findings
The data clearly indicated wide variation in crime linkage process, methods and products (Theme 1). Furthermore, a number of factors were identified that impacted on crime linkage practice (Theme 2).
Research limitations/implications
Future research should develop computerised crime linkage decision-support tools and evaluate their ability to enhance crime linkage practice. Also, researchers should explore the use of crime linkage in court proceedings.
Practical implications
To overcome the barriers identified in the current study, greater training in and understanding of crime linkage is needed. Moreover, efforts to enhance the quality of crime data recorded by the police will only serve to enhance crime linkage practice.
Social implications
By enhancing crime linkage practice, opportunities to reduce crime, protect the public and deliver justice for victims will be maximised.
Originality/value
The practice of crime linkage is under-researched, which makes it difficult to determine if/how existing empirical research can be used to support ongoing police investigations. The current project fills that gap by providing a national overview of crime linkage practice in New Zealand, a country where crime linkage is regularly conducted by the police, but no published linkage research exists.
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Heather Sequeira and Simon Halstead
The study examines the experiences of physical restraint procedures reported by nursing staff in a secure mental health service. Interview data were subjected to thematic content…
Abstract
The study examines the experiences of physical restraint procedures reported by nursing staff in a secure mental health service. Interview data were subjected to thematic content analysis in accordance with grounded theory methodology.Nursing staff reported a range of emotional responses to the use of restraint procedures. They included anxiety, anger, boredom, distress and crying. In some cases these responses were confirmed by descriptions from patients.Staff coped with the emotional responses to restraint in a variety of ways. Some staff discussed the ‘stigma’ attached to showing feelings to other staff. They described how laughter was used to reduce stress following an incident and how distressing emotions had to be taken home. Some staff described how they had become ‘hardened’ to the experience of restraint. A substantial proportion of staff suggested that they had ‘no’ emotional reactions and many reported ‘automatic’ responding during a restraint event in which they did not feel any emotion.Possible implications of these responses and clinical practice are discussed.
Tom Ricketts, Charlie Brooker and Kim Dent‐Brown
Prisoners are at greater risk of developing mental health problems compared with people of a similar age and gender in the community. They are less likely to have their mental…
Abstract
Prisoners are at greater risk of developing mental health problems compared with people of a similar age and gender in the community. They are less likely to have their mental health needs recognised, are less likely to receive psychiatric help or treatment, and are at an increased risk of suicide. Prison mental health in‐reach services have been developed in the UK to address these problems. An organisational case study method was used to generate theory about the links between the aims, processes and impacts of the introduction of mental health in‐reach teams to prison contexts. Case studies were undertaken on six sites and included interviews and focus groups with in‐reach team staff, prison healthcare staff, and discipline staff. The aims of prison mental health in‐reach were related to providing an equivalent service to a Community Mental Health Team, with a primary focus on serious mental illness, but a widening role. Achievement of these aims was mediated by the organisational context, active relationship development and leadership. Overall effects were positively reported by all stakeholders. Successful development was not just a function of time in post, but also a function of the effectiveness of leadership within the in‐reach teams. The more effective teams were having a wide impact on the response to mental health problems in the prison setting
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Prison social environments play an important role in the health of prisoners. How they respond to imprisonment is partially dependent upon how effectively they integrate into an…
Abstract
Prison social environments play an important role in the health of prisoners. How they respond to imprisonment is partially dependent upon how effectively they integrate into an institution’s social structure, learn to fit in with others and adapt to and cope with becoming detached from society, community and family ‐ hence, how they personally manage the transition from free society to a closed carceral community. This paper reports on findings of an ethnography conducted in an adult male training prison in England, which used participant observation, group interviewing, and one‐to‐one semi‐structured interviews with prisoners and prison officers. The research explored participants’ perceptions of imprisonment, particularly with regard to how they learned to adapt to and ‘survive’ in prison and their perceptions of how prison affected their mental, social and physical well‐being. It revealed that the social world of prison and a prisoner’s dislocation from society constitute two key areas of ‘deprivation’ that can have important health impacts.
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A half‐implicit absolutely stable method for 3D simulation of the transient processes in semiconductor devices is proposed. The calculations of transient processes in bipolar…
Abstract
A half‐implicit absolutely stable method for 3D simulation of the transient processes in semiconductor devices is proposed. The calculations of transient processes in bipolar transistor were carried out and were compared with the results of 2D simulation.
Objective. The objective of this study was to examine practices and policies in place for the provision of targeted prevention and treatment of cocaine and Amphetamine Type…
Abstract
Objective. The objective of this study was to examine practices and policies in place for the provision of targeted prevention and treatment of cocaine and Amphetamine Type Stimulant (ATS) users in prison in nine European countries. Methodology. Across nine European member states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovenia, Sweden, Malta, Ireland and Portugal), interviews were conducted with ministerial representatives and professionals (i.e. service providers and security officials) working in prisons and a total of 16 focus groups with a total of 125 prisoners. Results. The use of stimulants in prison is associated with aggression and violence, financial problems, and psychological and physical problems in prisoners (depression, anxiety and psychological craving). Both security and healthcare staff in prison often feel ill‐equipped to deal with stimulant‐related problems, leading to a lack of equivalence of care for stimulant users in prison, therefore the variety and quality of drug services outside is not reflected sufficiently inside prison. There is a need for more specific product information and harm reduction material on stimulants, for clear guidelines for the management of acute stimulant intoxication and stimulant withdrawal, for structural adjustments to improve potential diagnosis of personality and psychiatric disorders, for more non‐pharmacological treatment strategies and more opportunities for prisoners to engage in purposeful activities.
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Bradley Z. Hull and Scott J. Allen
The authors describe an exploratory analytical tool called The 5Ps Leadership Analysis (Personal Attributes, Position, Purpose, Practices/Processes, and Product) as a heuristic…
Abstract
The authors describe an exploratory analytical tool called The 5Ps Leadership Analysis (Personal Attributes, Position, Purpose, Practices/Processes, and Product) as a heuristic for better understanding the complexities of leadership. Using The 5Ps Leadership Analysis, the authors explore the leadership of General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and General George B. McClellan of the Union Army of the Potomac—more specifically, the leadership of the two generals on September 17, 1862 during the Battle of Antietam. The paper concludes with suggestions for application in the classroom.
Prisoners in the UK are in a poor state of health compared to the wider population, often experiencing numerous physical and/or mental health problems. Many prisoners have had…
Abstract
Prisoners in the UK are in a poor state of health compared to the wider population, often experiencing numerous physical and/or mental health problems. Many prisoners have had little contact with health services, and research suggests that the standard of health care provided in prisons is not equivalent to that provided in the community. This article introduces Care Services Improvement Partnership Health Trainers ‐ an initiative aiming to provide prisoners themselves with the skills to address health inequalities among their peers. Initially, it discusses the origins of these Health Trainers. It then examines prisoners' views on how training as a Health Trainer has influenced their attitudes and behaviour, and outlines possible implications of providing this kind of training to prisoners in terms of them using their knowledge to influence other prisoners' mental health.
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