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There have been few studies about the prevalence of substance abuse and links to offending behaviour among those with intellectual disabilities. This paper aims to address this issue.

This baseline audit describes: the prevalence of alcohol and substance misuse in patients within a forensic intellectual disability service; and the introduction of a Drug and Alcohol Awareness Course. In total, 74 patients were included in the audit.

Roughly half of the patients audited had co‐morbid harmful use or dependence with the problem being equally prevalent in men and women. Whilst alcohol and cannabis were the commonest drugs of abuse, cocaine, stimulants and opiates were abused by a small but significant number. Of those with harmful use or dependence, 35 per cent had used the drug in the immediate lead up to their index offence. A diagnosis of personality disorder and past history of convictions for violent offences was significantly more likely to be present in the group with harmful use or dependence. There were no differences on major mental illnesses or pervasive developmental disorders.

The high prevalence of substance abuse makes it an important risk factor that could determine treatment outcomes. Forensic intellectual disability units need replicable substance abuse targeted treatment programmes that can be formally audited and evaluated.

Findings are discussed in relation to service planning and treatment outcomes from forensic intellectual disability services.

Substance abuse and dependence to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD) is a universal public health problem extending across all borders, and including all ethnic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic boundaries. It is a condition that the nursing profession worldwide struggles to better understan. At the global level, differences in beliefs and practices regarding ATOD have resulted in a wide variation of how these problems are handled and treated.Examining and comparing those between the US and the UK can illustate an example of the differences in addictions nursing practice. Underlying assumptions of the current alcohol and drug policies in the US have been mainly based on prohibition, criminalisation and a drug‐free society ideology (Nadelmann, 1997) while the UK policies have been based on the belief of ‘harm reduction’ (Coyne & Clancy, 1996). This paper discusses some of the historical, philosophical and cultural differences between the US and the UK that have led to the respective differences in societal attitudes and treatment practices for substance abuse or ‘substance misuse’ within these two separate societies.

The purpose of this paper is to review the following research questions from the available literature: What evidence is there to suggest that substance misuse specifically by fathers (including alcohol and other drugs) causes wider harms, including child welfare concerns? substance misuse, recovery, parents, fathers, fathering, drugs/ alcohol services. How do professionals respond specifically to substance misuse by fathers? Do interventions aimed at parental substance misuse (particularly in the UK) include both mothers and fathers and if so how?

A scoping literature review was conducted which identified 34 papers (including scoping reviews published in 2006 and 2008, covering the period 1990-2005) and 26 additional studies published between 2002 and 2020.

The review in this paper is organised into six themes: Negative impact of men’s substance misuse problems on their parenting behaviours; quality of the relationship between parents affected by substance misuse of the fathers, in turn affecting the parenting behaviour and outcomes for children; importance to fathers of their fathering role (for example, as a financial provider); difficulties fathers may face in developing their fathering role; sidelining of the fathering role in substance misuse services; and professionals tending to focus on the mother’s role in parenting inventions and services.

This paper focusses on fathers and substance misuse, which is an under-researched field within the wider contexts of fathering research and research into parental substance misuse.

Little research has been carried out on the links between drug misuse and domestic violence. This article attempts to address this gap by presenting key findings and recommendations from research carried out by Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International Ltd in the West Midlands exploring the links between substance misuse and domestic violence

Purpose – Treatment for alcohol and drug addiction in correctional settings has become commonplace throughout much of the United States. The delivery of treatment services in prisons is a promising approach and has certain advantages relative to outpatient and voluntary treatment, including (i) certainty of program enrollment and participation by individuals who would not likely seek treatment on their own (i.e., coerced participation/guaranteed delivery of treatment); (ii) program modalities specific to residential settings as treatment options – in effect, more intensive treatment; and (iii) the parole process ensures participation in post-release aftercare services. During this era wherein reentry is a pronounced theme throughout American corrections, substance abuse treatment is fundamental in terms of rehabilitating offenders, increasing public safety, and lowering recidivism rates and, ultimately, the overall prison population.

Methodology – Using data from a process evaluation of an in-prison alcohol treatment program in Texas, this study examines the environmental barriers to effective recovery present in correctional settings and considers the strengths and weaknesses of coercive treatment, generally.

Findings – Findings indicate that offenders can indeed become motivated to change through coerced treatment. However, study findings also suggested that a certain number of offenders will not become engaged in treatment and fail to develop any internal motivation, which can be problematic for a number of reasons.

Practical implications – The highly coercive and restrictive nature of correctional facilities may negate the overall rehabilitative intent of treatment programs.

The shift in policy discourse towards individualism is affecting service provision and access, which has become increasingly conditioned on individual agency and the “deservingness” of the recipient. Gendered and intersectional experiences of homelessness and excluded populations less likely to be living on the streets remain overlooked and unaddressed. This study thus aims to uncover what drives “invisibility” in services for women experiencing multiple disadvantage and the gendered constraints the women are facing when exiting and navigating multiple disadvantage.

The paper draws on in-depth interviews with women who face severe and multiple disadvantage and their support staff. Data is also gathered through survey data and observations with a wide range of frontline service providers, as well as support notes and numerical progress data recorded by one of the service providers.

Contradicting the common assumption that people act as rational actors in their interaction with services, the author found that women’s decisions to (dis)engage may be blinded by forces of multiple disadvantage and mistrust. These are often developed as a result of systemic and gendered constraints that limit women’s capabilities and exercise of choice. Barriers in service access often amplified the personal barriers they were facing and reinforced women’s decisions to not engage with services.

The author hopes that this paper sheds light on the particular set of barriers women with multiple disadvantage face, which will be vital to reach women who face severe disadvantage and provide more effective policies, care and support.

This study gives voice to a particular hidden population: women with multiple disadvantage. It contributes to existing frameworks on agency and choice by understanding gendered barriers behind service engagement and how services themselves may be contributing to women’s invisibility.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and summarize the recent emergence of NPS onto the drug market. To show the international and national responses, legal and guidance. To indicate some of the challenges NPS present to jurisdictions. To indicate some of the challenges NPS present to treatment agencies. To outline what is known about prevalence and effects.

A narrative account of the substances becoming known and the response made by jurisdictions.

The use and effects of NPS are slowly becoming known and exchanged between jurisdictions and treatment agencies. The user group appears to differ from the “traditional” substance users groups with which agencies are familiar. The use of the internet is a characteristic of this new market and user group.

New substances are constantly being identified. Previous treatment approaches may not be fully relevant to NPS. The new area of cognition enhancement is being gradually realized.

Treatment agencies need to develop new approaches, both to treat the effects of NPS use and to attract NPS users, who do not identify as “drug users”.

A new user group appears to be emerging. Cognition enhancement is a feature of NPS composition and use/attraction.

An attempt to summarize existing understanding of NPS use and marketing and to predict future trends and needs.

Opportunities to gamble have boomed in the UK in recent years, since the passing of the Gambling Act 2005. The implications of this for adults with care and support needs and for safeguarding services have not been greatly investigated. The purpose of this paper is to address the interface of how gambling affects adults with care and support needs in England and adult safeguarding.

This paper reports on the scoping review which focussed on adults with care and support needs and gambling-related harm. It also included literature on perpetrators who exploit adults with care and support needs to fund their own or others’ gambling. The overall aims of this scoping review were to explore what is known about gambling-related harm affecting adults with care and support needs, the gaps in the evidence base, and specifically to refine the interview questions for the wider study.

There is some evidence that adults with care and support needs experience or are at risk of gambling-related harm. There is, however, lack of data from safeguarding services about this affecting adults at risk and safeguarding practice and systems. A public health approach to gambling is advocated by some, as well as effective regulation and support for people who have problems with their own or others’ gambling.

Industry operators, practitioners, and policymakers are increasingly paying attention to gambling-related harm but there is a lack of focus on adults with care and support needs or implications for adult safeguarding.