Vulnerability in custody: perceptions and practices of police officers and criminal justice professionals in meeting the communication needs of offenders with learning disabilities and learning difficulties

Abstract

Information provision and communication within the Criminal Justice System can be highly problematic for young people and adults with learning disabilities and difficulties. Paper-based communication is common, and is mandated for the provision of rights and entitlements in custody, but such communication can be poorly understood, potentially leading to miscarriages of justice. This article uses the piloting of a more accessible version of the rights and entitlements notice in custody to explore the communication practices with vulnerable detained persons from the perspectives of professionals within the Criminal Justice System. As a legally mandated text in a context heavily imbued with organisational power, the rights and entitlements notice in custody has sociological significance as a lens through which organisational practices, and understandings, can be examined. The stressful, fast-paced and transitional context of custody shapes communication and interaction in ways that are challenging for the detained person and also the professionals who support them.

Keywords:

• Learning disabilities
• custody
• rights and entitlements
• accessibility
• communication
• texts

Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the funding partner organisations for facilitating access to custody centres and potential participants. The partner organisations agreed the general focus of the pilot project and also supported initial access to research sites and participants. The conduct of the research, including choice of interviewees, lines of questioning and the analysis and interpretation of the data, were decided and managed independently by the authors. The authors thank all participants for their generosity with their time and willingness to participate in the research.

Notes

1. The term ‘vulnerable’ throughout the article refers to adults with learning disabilities and difficulties, as well as young people (who may also have learning difficulties or disabilities).

2. The most recent guidance on the safe detention of people in custody from the College of Policing (2015) includes specific sections on mental health and learning difficulties or disabilities, and definitions of these terms. This guidance makes it clear that: ‘Those with learning disabilities/difficulties should have an appropriate adult when being dealt with in a custody environment. Furthermore officers and staff should consider using registered intermediaries and other forms of communication where appropriate’ (2015, Detention and custody, section 2.3 Learning disabilities or difficulties, para. 4).

3. This term is treated as a proper noun in this article because the Appropriate Adults involved were all members/employees of organisations which provide this service within the CJS. The use of the proper noun here distinguishes between these professional Appropriate Adults and those appropriate adults who may be designated by the detained person (who could be a family member, friend or someone else known to the person).