Serious violent offenders : developing a risk assessment framework

In order to establish a complementary language of risk across all agencies, it is recommended that the Scottish Government and the Risk Management Authority actively disseminate MAPPA guidance through the RMA's specialist training programme and through the development of protocols and memoranda of agreement. Prior to a violent offender framework being implemented, an audit of existing numbers, staffing, budgetary and other resources should be undertaken across the Community Justice Authorities to ascertain projected needs

What works in work with violent offenders: An overview.

SOMEC is a two-year project running from January 2013 to January 2015 investigating current processes for information exchange and procedures to manage the harm posed by serious violent or sexual offenders travelling across the European Union. SOMEC is co-funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Home Affairs - HOME/2011/AG/4000002521 30-CE-0519712/00-87. SOMEC Partners, Beneficiary Partners: National Offender Management Service (UK), The Home Office (UK) Association of Chief Police Officers (UK), ACPO Criminal Records Office (UK), National Crime Agency (UK), London Probation Trust (UK), De Montfort University (UK), CEP- Confederation of European Probation (EU), Department of Justice (Prison and Probation) Catalonia (ES), Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice (NL), Latvian State Probation Service (LV), Latvian State Police (LV). Associate Partners: The Ministry of Interior, Macedonia (MA), Probation Chiefs Association (UK), The Scottish Government (UK), The Police Service Northern Ireland (UK), Probation Board for Northern Ireland (UK), Europol (EU), Eurojust (EU).This short overview captures key themes and findings about the effective assessment and management of violent offenders. It is not exhaustive but has attempted to be wide ranging. The overview concentrates on recent papers after 2007, but utilises earlier work if it is seen as relevant. The review has not used a systematic literature review methodology due to constraints of time and resources. This is also a very broad field of study and the review touches on key areas but recognises that further work is needed. A key word search1 of the following data bases/search engines was used: De Montfort and Birmingham University Websites. Further literature was pursued on a thematic basis following this initial search. The review is dominated by studies from Anglophone countries although sources from Europe have also been included when published in English

Serious Violent and Sexual Offenders: The Use of Risk Assessment Tools in Scotland

First paragraph: The report of the MacLean Committee on serious violent and sexual offenders (Scottish Executive, 2000) identified a need for further research into risk assessment and recidivism in relation to this group. In response to the MacLean Committee recommendations the Scottish Executive commissioned research on risk assessment tools in use in Scotland. The aim of this research is to provide an audit of risk assessment instruments currently in use with serious violent and sexual offenders, to describe how they are used and to assess progress with the validation of risk assessment instruments for use in Scotland

Understandings, implications and alternative approaches to the use of the sex offenders register in the UK

This paper reviews the current position in relation to sex offender registration and community notification in England and Wales. It reports on data collected as part of a wider research project evaluating law enforcement perspectivesrelated to sex offender registration and notification and the management of sex offenders in the community. In examining law enforcement perceptions, it discussesissues that have been raised related to information sharing and the efficacy of such schemes. The authors also consider how the sex offenders register and Child DisclosureScheme could be used more effectively in the future. Given that a similar child disclosure scheme was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2016, issues that practitioners in that jurisdiction may find it useful to consider are highlighted

The potential role of recovery capital in stopping sexual offending: Lessons from circles of support and accountability to enrich practice

The rehabilitation and reintegration of people who have committed sexual offences presents significant challenges. Current research and practice on desistance from offending behaviour discusses a harm reduction journey that is more multifaceted than the concept of social capital, it is in fact closer to recovery capital. This article discusses how the framework of recovery capital is also useful in the rehabilitation and reintegration of people who have committed sexual offences drawing from the experiences of the Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) model. It will consider the CoSA model as an example of recovery capital using its evidence base (especially McCartan, Kemshall, et al, 2012 & McCartan, 2016) to frame it as a narrative for rehabilitation and reintegration. The paper will then provide practitioners with some recommendations as well as thoughts for effectively using recovery capital in practice

Serious Violent or Sexual Offenders Travelling Across EU Borders. Ideological and Ethical Challenges of Information Exchange.

SOMEC is a two-year project running from January 2013 to January 2015 investigating current processes for information exchange and procedures to manage the harm posed by serious violent or sexual offenders travelling across the European Union. SOMEC is co-funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Home Affairs - HOME/2011/AG/4000002521 30-CE-0519712/00-87. SOMEC Partners, Beneficiary Partners: National Offender Management Service (UK), The Home Office (UK) Association of Chief Police Officers (UK), ACPO Criminal Records Office (UK), National Crime Agency (UK), London Probation Trust (UK), De Montfort University (UK), CEP- Confederation of European Probation (EU), Department of Justice (Prison and Probation) Catalonia (ES), Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice (NL), Latvian State Probation Service (LV), Latvian State Police (LV). Associate Partners: The Ministry of Interior, Macedonia (MA), Probation Chiefs Association (UK), The Scottish Government (UK), The Police Service Northern Ireland (UK), Probation Board for Northern Ireland (UK), Europol (EU), Eurojust (EU). The full field work report and other project outputs are available at: http://www.svdv.org.uk/somec-project/The increase in travel opportunities coupled with open borders across much of the European Union has resulted in increased capacity for serious violent or sexual offenders to travel or migrate to other Member States within the EU. In some instances this results in (ex)offenders living and working in Member States with less monitoring, regulation or supervision than they would experience in their home Member State; and in some cases without any tracking or information exchange about their known criminality. In 2013 an EU funded project reviewed current information exchange systems within the EU, and the challenges and issues faced by law enforcement and probation service personnel when seeking to work collaboratively with other EU Member States to manage the risk posed by this small number of high risk offenders. This article reviews the key issues from that research, and most notably the differences in perceptions of privacy, data protection restrictions on information exchange, rights to free movement post sentence, and a range of legal and ethical constraints upon the choices and actions of law enforcement and probation personnel. Underlying ideological and philosophical differences, particularly across Probation practice, can be discerned focused on the relative weight that risk, desistance or rehabilitation should play in response to these offenders. This article examines the implications of these differences for the effective management of serious violent or sexual offenders who are mobile across the EU community

Communicating about child sexual abuse with the public: learning the lessons from public awareness campaigns

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Despite numerous public awareness campaigns Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) remains a significant global issue affecting millions of children. This suggests that such campaigns have had minimal impact, and the paucity of good quality empirical evaluation makes it difficult to establish what has worked and what has not. This article considers how different and evolving approaches to public awareness campaigning on CSA since the 1990s have influenced (or not) attitudinal and behavioural change. The article reviews a number of key initiatives from around the world and identifies common themes that can inform campaigning and prevention efforts. Recommendations for further research efforts, social problem framing, and targeting are offered. The article concludes by arguing that more recent multi-faceted campaigns which combine a range of messaging methods and are more likely to turn public awareness campaigning into public action campaigning