Search results
1 – 10 of 12Geoff Dickens, Philip Sugarman, Marco Picchioni and Clive Long
In this study we demonstrate how the Health of the Nation Outcomes Scales for secure and forensic service users (HoNOS‐secure) tracks risk and recovery in men with mental illness…
Abstract
In this study we demonstrate how the Health of the Nation Outcomes Scales for secure and forensic service users (HoNOS‐secure) tracks risk and recovery in men with mental illness and men with learning disability in a secure care pathway. Total and individual HoNOS‐secure item ratings made by multi‐disciplinary teams across the course of a period of admission (mean 15 months) for 180 men were examined. There was significant positive change on the clinical and risk‐related scales of HoNOS‐secure for patients in the learning disability care pathway (N = 48) between initial and final ratings. In the mental health care pathway (N = 132 patients) an apparent lack of change masked a more complex picture, where initial decline in HoNOS‐secure ratings was succeeded by significant improvement. Results suggest that it is challenging to measure clinical and risk‐related medium‐term clinical outcomes objectively for these patients, particularly in relation to core issues of treatment of mental disorder, and reduction of both problem behaviour and risk to others. However, it is important that practitioners continue to strive to demonstrate the benefits of care and treatment through appropriate outcomes measures.
Details
Keywords
Geoff Dickens, Marco Picchioni and Clive Long
The purpose of this paper is to describe how aggressive and violent incidents differ across specialist gender, security and mental health/learning disability pathways in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how aggressive and violent incidents differ across specialist gender, security and mental health/learning disability pathways in specialist secure care.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a retrospective survey of routinely collected incident data from one 207‐bed UK independent sector provider of specialist medium and low secure mental health care for male and female adults with primary diagnosis of mental illness or intellectual disability.
Findings
In total, 3,133 incidents involving 184/373 (49.3 per cent) patients were recorded (68.2 per cent other‐directed aggression, 31.8 per cent self‐harm). Most incidents occurred in the medium secure wards but more than half of the most severely rated self‐harm incidents occurred in low security. Men were disproportionately involved in incidents, but a small number of women were persistently involved in multiple acts. Incidents were most common in the intellectual disability pathway.
Research limitations/implications
Incidents, especially those of lower severity, can be under‐reported in routine practice. Information about incident severity was limited.
Practical implications
Aggressive incidents do not occur homogenously across forensic and secure mental health services but differ substantially in their frequency and nature across security levels, and gender and mental health/intellectual disability pathways. Different approaches to training and management are required to ensure appropriate prevention and intervention. Future practice should draw on emerging theories of differential susceptibility.
Originality/value
This paper extends current knowledge about how incidents of violence and aggression differ across secure settings.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to explore the research which has examined the link between autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and offending behaviour and the impact of prison on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the research which has examined the link between autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and offending behaviour and the impact of prison on individuals with ASDs. Studies suggest that inmates with ASDs may be at an increased risk of bullying, confrontations, exploitation, anxiety and social isolation as a result of their ASD traits such as obsessions, social naivety and impaired empathy.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive review of the literature.
Findings
The review identifies a modest amount of studies (n=4) which have explored the experience of individuals with ASD in prison and highlights that inmates with ASDs face a multitude of problems when they enter prison. Despite an extensive literature search only one study was identified which investigated the knowledge and understanding of ASDs amongst prison staff.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is urgently needed to consider the specific problems faced by inmates with ASD, to identify how to make the prison environment safer and more supportive for inmates with ASD and how to reduce the likelihood of re-offending.
Practical implications
This review highlights that, to date, there has been relatively little to guide service design in order to develop support services for individuals with ASD in prison. There has been a scarcity of studies investigating the effectiveness of various treatment models to target offending behaviour in individuals with ASD.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to study and identify the specific problems faced by inmates with ASD and to identify changes which are required to provide an environment in prison which is safer and more supportive.
Details
Keywords
Brian Griffin, Kate Hills, Geoff Andrew, Stephen Drodge, Roy Huse and David Reid
I REMEMBER one elderly librarian who insisted on keeping the works of obscure authors like Lermontov on the shelves, even when faced with the plain fact that no dates were ever…
Abstract
I REMEMBER one elderly librarian who insisted on keeping the works of obscure authors like Lermontov on the shelves, even when faced with the plain fact that no dates were ever stamped on the labels of the books in question. Whatever happened, the books stayed, year‐in, year‐out. Here, then, was a librarian of the old school, a guardian of culture, keeping to his post while the inner‐city housewives ran for the Mills and Boons on the returned‐books trolley like piranhas hot on the scent of human flesh. He didn't care: sitting at his desk, making careful notations on the backs of book‐cards, he could ignore the crowd and think about Lermontov.
Abstract
Details
Keywords
To examine how an external performance review process introduced as part of the public sector modernisation agenda in England and Wales has impacted on HR service provision and…
Abstract
Purpose
To examine how an external performance review process introduced as part of the public sector modernisation agenda in England and Wales has impacted on HR service provision and processes in local government and the extent to which it has acted as a catalyst for the development of more integrative and innovative HR practices to support organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study analysis of the Best Value Review (BVR) process of HR services at two county and two unitary authorities generated data from multiple sources including interviews, focus groups, consultative meetings as well as internal documentation. This approach was adopted to offer perspectives from different stakeholders in the employment relationship.
Findings
There was found to be a frequent lack of synergy between organisational goals, departmental plans and the performance objectives of individuals combined with an absence of shared understandings about human resourcing priorities or commitment to the processes needed to strategically integrate HR policies.
Research limitations/implications
Whilst providing insights into the Best Value (BV) approach to public sector modernisation, a wider generalisation of the findings cannot be drawn from four case studies.
Practical implications
Line management and the HR function need to share better understandings concerning the HR practices needed to support the modernisation agenda and their respective HR responsibilities.
Originality/value
This paper reveals that the BV performance regime was not encouraging, and even limiting, a corporate approach to the HR policies and practices required to develop longer term organisational capability.
Details
Keywords
Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover…
Abstract
Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover specific articles devoted to certain topics. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume III, in addition to the annotated list of articles as the two previous volumes, contains further features to help the reader. Each entry within has been indexed according to the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus and thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid information retrieval. Each article has its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. The first Volume of the Bibliography covered seven journals published by MCB University Press. This Volume now indexes 25 journals, indicating the greater depth, coverage and expansion of the subject areas concerned.
Details