Treating and managing stalking offenders: findings from a multi-agency clinical intervention

The Multi-Agency Stalking Intervention Programme (MASIP), piloted in three police forces in England, delivered a range of risk management interventions, including bespoke psychological treatment to a subset of convicted stalkers. The interim aim was to equip offenders with tools to address their behaviour, as well as to support their transition towards full desistance. This study explores how offender-related interventions were conceived and implemented by stakeholders in this multi-agency partnership and examines whether the personal journeys of stalking offenders involved fulfilled the intended aims. Semi-structured interviews conducted with six clinicians, who delivered direct interventions, and six stalking offenders, who received such interventions, were analysed thematically. Clinicians conveyed that the multi-agency partnership working informed risk assessment, and design and delivery of bespoke therapeutic interventions. Offenders reported improvements in their own reflective, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. Additionally, therapeutic interventions assisted them in recognizing the seriousness of their behaviour; its impact on their own lives and their victims; in developing motivations to desist; and self-regulating with learned coping mechanisms. These findings are discussed and give rise to important considerations for practitioners with regards to targeted treatment and risk management of stalking offenders

A theory of change driven approach to evaluating a multi-agency stalking intervention programme

Purpose: Multi-agency initiatives as a response to complex crimes, such as stalking, pose conceptual and operational challenges for practitioners and evaluators. This study addresses these challenges, by combining a theory of change driven approach with the realist-inspired EMMIE evaluation framework to present findings from a pilot multi agency stalking intervention partnership in England and Wales.// Methods: The study uses a mixed methods approach based on analysis of police data and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders to present a process and effect evaluation of a complex social intervention.// Results: Findings based on a small sample and limited follow up period show nonsignificant results in terms of reducing the harmful effects of stalking, but which are encouragingly in the right direction. The case study demonstrates the importance of a theory driven approach to multi-agency evaluation and identifies essential factors necessary for ensuring implementation success.// Conclusions: A theory of change driven approach and an EMMIE-inspired evaluation can help identify whether interventions work, how they work, for whom they work, and under what conditions. It demonstrates the importance of data collection and provision for long term evaluation plans, especially for complex social interventions. The paper makes a significant methodological and empirical contribution to evaluation literature

The role of helplines in the anti-trafficking space: Examining contacts to a major ‘modern slavery’ hotline

Although increasingly deployed worldwide, human trafficking hotlines are sorely under-researched. Situated within a complex systems framework, we conceptualise such helplines as both a product of and an influence on broader anti-trafficking ecosystems. Taking the UK as a case study, we undertook exploratory analysis of potential ‘modern slavery’ cases (n=3,613) reported to a major independent anti-trafficking helpline. We examined who seeks help, why and what follows. Contrary to stereotypes, relatively few cases involved sexual exploitation. Many case characteristics varied significantly by exploitation type. Reports about car washes and beauty services heavily influenced overall trends, likely reflecting intense public focus on these sites. Most cases involved adults. Although people self-reporting exploitation are the core target audience, only around 1 in 10 cases derived from self-reports (with higher rates for domestic servitude). We show how third-party reporters vary in their proximity to the people about whom they raise concerns – who themselves may or may not self-identify as victims and/or welcome intervention. Findings around onward action both show a whole-systems response to addressing complex needs and raise difficult tensions around risks of police involvement. Our key contributions include showing what can (and cannot) presently be assessed from such helpline data, proposing a future research agenda and providing a tangible illustration of what it means to theorise helplines as a part of a complex system of anti-trafficking activity. We highlight how their central goal of victim support can be enabled and constrained by wider policies, funding decisions and other structures

Hiding in plain sight: identifying partner stalking in intimate partner violence episodes reported to New Zealand Police

In relationships characterised by current or previous intimate partner violence (IPV), partner stalking is a commonly occurring phenomenon. In this study, we examined police-recorded partner stalking in IPV episode reports across 1150 cases to (a) consider the overlap between IPV and partner stalking, and the relevance of the aggressor and victim’s relationship phase to defining partner stalking; and (b) contribute empirical evidence about partner stalking prevalence rates and identification rates by police and victims. A secondary aim involved exploring possible differences between IPV cases with and without partner stalking. Although few police or victims explicitly used the label ‘stalking', we identified evidence of partner stalking within one in every seven IPV cases reported to New Zealand Police. Further, this study contributed novel analysis about relationship dynamics by adding an on–off relationship phase to the typically dichotomised categories of intact and separated relationships. In turn, we identified partner stalking relatively rarely within intact relationships; and significantly more frequently, and at similar rates, across both the separated and on–off relationship phases. Finally, we discuss implications for defining the overlap between IPV and partner stalking, police practice, and future research

A theory of change driven approach to evaluating a multi-agency stalking intervention programme

Multi agency initiatives as a response to complex crimes and social problems pose several challenges for practitioners and evaluators, in conceptual and operational terms. Challenges for practitioners include working out input requirements to achieve specified interim and final outcomes, and for evaluators it implies measuring not only if interventions work, but how they work, for whom, and under what circumstances. In an attempt to address these challenges, here we present findings from our unique attempt to combine a theory of change driven approach with the realist-inspired EMMIE evaluation framework, of a pilot multi agency stalking intervention partnership in one police force area in England and Wales. The paper makes a significant methodological and empirical contribution to evaluation literatur

Interrater Reliability in Systematic Review Methodology

A methodologically sound systematic review is characterized by transparency, replicability, and a clear inclusion criterion. However, little attention has been paid to reporting the details of interrater reliability (IRR) when multiple coders are used to make decisions at various points in the screening and data extraction stages of a study. Prior research has mentioned the paucity of information on IRR including number of coders involved, at what stages and how IRR tests were conducted, and how disagreements were resolved. This article examines and reflects on the human factors that affect decision-making in systematic reviews via reporting on three IRR tests, conducted at three different points in the screening process, for two distinct reviews. Results of the two studies are discussed in the context of IRR and intrarater reliability in terms of the accuracy, precision, and reliability of coding behavior of multiple coders. Findings indicated that coding behavior changes both between and within individuals over time, emphasizing the importance of conducting regular and systematic IRR and intrarater reliability tests, especially when multiple coders are involved, to ensure consistency and clarity at the screening and coding stages. Implications for good practice while screening/coding for systematic reviews are discussed

The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: Many local authorities in England and Wales have reduced street lighting at night to save money and reduce carbon emissions. There is no evidence to date on whether these reductions impact on public health. We quantified the effect of 4 street lighting adaptation strategies (switch off, part-night lighting, dimming and white light) on casualties and crime in England and Wales. METHODS: Observational study based on analysis of geographically coded police data on road traffic collisions and crime in 62 local authorities. Conditional Poisson models were used to analyse longitudinal changes in the counts of night-time collisions occurring on affected roads during 2000-2013, and crime within census Middle Super Output Areas during 2010-2013. Effect estimates were adjusted for regional temporal trends in casualties and crime. RESULTS: There was no evidence that any street lighting adaptation strategy was associated with a change in collisions at night. There was significant statistical heterogeneity in the effects on crime estimated at police force level. Overall, there was no evidence for an association between the aggregate count of crime and switch off (RR 0.11; 95% CI 0.01 to 2.75) or part-night lighting (RR 0.96; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.06). There was weak evidence for a reduction in the aggregate count of crime and dimming (RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.70 to 1.02) and white light (RR 0.89; 95% CI 0.77 to 1.03). CONCLUSIONS: This study found little evidence of harmful effects of switch off, part-night lighting, dimming, or changes to white light/LEDs on road collisions or crime in England and Wales

Absence of street lighting may prevent vehicle crime, but spatial and temporal displacement remains a concern

Objectives This paper estimates the effect of changes in street lighting at night on levels of crime at street-level. Analyses investigate spatial and temporal displacement of crime into adjacent streets. Methods Offense data (burglaries, robberies, theft of and theft from vehicles, and violent crime) were obtained from Thames Valley Police, UK. Street lighting data (switching lights off at midnight, dimming, and white light) were obtained from local authorities. Monthly counts of crime at street-level were analyzed using a conditional fixed-effects Poisson regression model, adjusting for seasonal and temporal variation. Two sets of models analyzed: (1) changes in night-time crimes adjusting for changes in day-time crimes and (2) changes in crimes at all times of the day. Results Switching lights off at midnight was strongly associated with a reduction in night-time theft from vehicles relative to daytime (rate ratio RR 0.56; 0.41–0.78). Adjusted for changes in daytime, night-time theft from vehicles increased (RR 1.55; 1.14–2.11) in adjacent roads where street lighting remained unchanged. Conclusion Theft from vehicle offenses reduced in streets where street lighting was switched off at midnight but may have been displaced to better-lit adjacent streets. Relative to daytime, night-time theft from vehicle offenses reduced in streets with dimming while theft from vehicles at all times of the day increased, thus suggesting temporal displacement. These findings suggest that the absence of street lighting may prevent theft from vehicles, but there is a danger of offenses being temporally or spatially displaced

Extending the remit of evidence-based policing

Evidence-based policing (EBP) is an important strand of the UK’s College of Policing’s Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF), itself a component of a professionalisation agenda. This article argues that the two dominant approaches to EBP, experimental criminology and crime science, offer limited scope for the development of a comprehensive knowledge base for policing. Although both approaches share a common commitment to the values of science, each recognizes their limited coverage of policing topics. The fundamental difference between them is what each considers ‘best’ evidence. This article critically examines the generation of evidence by these two approaches and proposes an extension to the range of issues EBP should cover by utilizing a greater plurality of methods to exploit relevant research. Widening the scope of EBP would provide a broader foundational framework for inclusion in the PEQF and offers the potential for identifying gaps in the research, constructing blocks for knowledge building, and syllabus development in higher level police education