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 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

What works’ in work with sexual offenders.

This review forms part of an EU funded project ‘Serious Offending by Mobile European Criminals’ (SOMEC). The project has the following objectives: Assess the threat posed to European citizens when serious violent or sexual offenders travel between EU Member States. Identify the methods and effectiveness of mechanisms used by EU Member States in the management of serious violent or sexual offenders travelling across borders. Explore critical success factors and provide recommendations to facilitate the improved exchange of information for the prevention of crime. 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 review provides a summary of ‘what works’ with sexual offenders and seeks to highlight key research on sexual offenders, their assessment, interventions, and broader management responses. The review identifies the most effective responses as supported by the current state of research evidence, approaches under development, and identifies areas of potential good practice. Violent offenders are the subject of a separate short overview document.1 The term ‘dangerous offender’ is purposely avoided, as it is open to considerable debate and interpretation. The SOMEC project has focused on serious violent or sexual offenders, using a tighter focus on specific offence types resulting in serious physical harm or psychological trauma. The review is not exhaustive and is limited by access to English speaking publications with some limited reference to European publications. The methodology and search strategy are outlined in the body of the report and follow the expected process and standards for reviews of this type

Risk Assessment and Management of Individual's Convicted of a Sexual Offence in the UK

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 URI link.The UK has seen changes in sexual abuse policy and practice over the last 10 - 15 years that have been driven by austerity, risk management, public protection and the socio-political climate; these changes have been problematic and challenging as well as positive and proactive. In recent years there has been an increasing move amongst professionals, practitioners and policy makers stating to think of sexual abuse as more than just a criminal justice issue, but reframing it as a public health and criminal justice issue; although this has not filtered down to the public and the media yet. This article will look at the current status of sexual abuse policy and practice in the UK, what has changed, its impact and where it is moving in the future

Understandings, Implications and Alternative Approaches to the Use of the Sex Offender Register in the UK

Written in conunction with academics at University of West of EnglandThis article reviews the current state of sex offender registration and community notification in England and Wales Drawing on previous research and a current examination of police perceptions of registration, notification and disclosure in this jurisdiction the article discusses issues related to the efficacy of such schemes in the effective management of sexual offenders (including – issues related to Information sharing, the Public and professional utility of Child Sexual Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSODS), Issues with the CSODS process and how the Sex Offender Register and CSODS could be used more effectively. Given that a similar disclosure scheme has been introduced in NI in 2016 there are issues highlighted which practitioners in that jurisdiction may find useful to consider. The article concludes by discussing alternative ways that the current sex offender register and community notification schemes could be more effectively used to prevent child sexual abuse, emphasizing a public health approach and the ‘spectrum of prevention’

Information Exchange, Monitoring and Management- A Fieldwork Study of Current Responses by Member States.

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