Risk Aversion and Anxiety in Scottish Criminal Justice Social Work: Can Desistance and Human Rights Agendas Have an Impact?

Fenton, Jane

doi:10.1111/j.1468-2311.2012.00716.x

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Scholars have previously noted that the notion of the autonomy of 'the risky' as possible perpetrators of harms to vulnerable adults or children is a difficult concept to approach and to manage in a culture of professional anxieties and the 'politics of public protection' (Nash, 2010;Faulkner, 2012;Fenton, 2013;Grace, 2013b;Grace, 2014a;Grace, 2014c).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better information sharing, or “share or be damned”?

Grace

2015

The Journal of Adult Protection

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the ramifications of developments in surveillance policies and technologies for information sharing cultures in a “public protection routine”. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper uses a mixed theoretical, legal and policy-based approach to inform this exploration of the ramifications of developments in surveillance policies and technologies. Findings – This conceptual paper concludes that developments in surveillance policies and technologies as part of the “public protection routine” will result in a damaging and hasty culture of “share or be damned” unless a more careful approach to new information sharing approaches is developed. Otherwise, an increasing bureaucratisation of risk management through surveillance will lead to a disregard for the fine balance between public protection, procedural rights and privacy. Originality/value – The originality and value of this conceptual paper is considerable – as some of the case studies discussed are very recent ones, and ones that represent an acceleration of the problems within the “public protection routine” which this paper seeks to unpick.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better information sharing, or “share or be damned”?

Grace

2015

The Journal of Adult Protection

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“…It seems that the task of creating a culture where workers can adopt autonomous and responsive approaches (essential for desistance work) and, thus, live with healthy ontological anxiety (as opposed to crippling, overwhelming anxiety) will depend on the ethical climate of the agency (support or blame) and the acceptance of the inevitability of reoffending. 40 Fenton also notes that 'it may be that, in reality, we are still a long way from the necessary and explicit acknowledgement that the human rights of the offender are as essential a consideration as risk assessment and public protection'.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Old Convictions Never Die, They Just Fade Away: The Permanency of Convictions and Cautions for Criminal Offences in the UK

Grace

2014

The Journal of Criminal Law

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“…While the individual risk-focused approach appears to have merit in terms of impacting on recidivism in the general offender population, the preoccupation with risk assessment "technology" has been widely criticised (Coffey, 2012;Fenton, 2013;Hannah-Moffat, 2005;Hudson, 2001;Ward et al, 2012) particularly in relation to women (Sheehan et al, 2010;Trotter et al, 2012) and in relation to people with a mental illness (Blackburn, 2004;Farrow et al, 2007). Some of the concepts underpinning the criticism arise from the work of Beck (1992) and his theory of "the risk society".…”

Section: Policy/organisation Risk Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… diverts resources towards those who are considered to be of high or future risk rather than providing resources to the majority or those considered to have high needs (Mullen, 2001;Sheehan et al, 2010);  claims to be morally neutral but is viewed as generating stigmatising, defensive and blaming cultures across human service agencies (Coffey, 2012;Fenton, 2013;Kemshall, 2002;Sawyer, 2009;Stanford, 2010Stanford, , 2011.…”

Section: Policy/organisation Risk Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hoping Against Hope: The Prison-to-Community Transition Experience of Men With Co-Occurring Severe Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder

Denton¹

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This thesis explores the prison-to-community transition experience after short-term incarceration, from the perspective of men with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder in Queensland, Australia. A specific focus was to examine the impact of systems and structures on the individual experience of transition. Prior research has established that people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use are overrepresented in the Australian prisoner population. It is also known that transition from prison to community for the general custodial population is a time of vulnerability, with increased risk of substance use, homelessness, unemployment, reincarceration and post-release death. All of these risks are compounded for prisoners with co-occurring disorders who are also at risk of a range of poor criminal justice outcomes and losing contact with mental health services after release.Review of the literature indicates a tendency for research to focus on recidivism as an outcome and emphasise either individual risk behaviour or social and structural factors influencing prison-to-community transition. Interventions during transition for the current population have traditionally been based on the criminalisation hypothesis, with a focus on increased provision of mental health services in prison and an emphasis on continuity of care in the community. There is a growing recognition in the international literature that the issues are much broader than mental illness; however, there is a lack of clarity as to how to respond to the complex needs of this population. Research exploring the perspective of men with cooccurring severe mental illness and substance use disorder during their prison-to-community transition experience has rarely been undertaken.The conceptual framework developed for this study shifts the emphasis away from recidivism towards recovery and wellbeing through a lens of individual action, but only in the context of the potential for systems and structures to impact on the ability of individuals to exercise agency. A qualitative method was used comprising repeat in-depth interviews with 18 men: within 1 month prior to leaving prison, within 2 weeks post-release and at 3 months postrelease. Three themes characterised the transition experience of participants: "hoping against hope"; "adrift in freedom"; and "the slippery slope". Participants reported leaving the predictable and routine life in prison where they hoped for a better life after release, to an uncertain, unstable and isolated environment in the community, eventually sliding into drug use, chaos and despair. The risk environment framework (Rhodes, 2009) and structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) were employed to understand how participants were caught in a complex dynamic between their individual risk behaviour and broader structural risk iii environments. This thesis proposes that a web of interrelated factors contributed to participants in the study as "ambivalent agents" who were suspended between the two worlds of priso...

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Risk Aversion and Anxiety in Scottish Criminal Justice Social Work: Can Desistance and Human Rights Agendas Have an Impact?

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Better information sharing, or “share or be damned”?

Better information sharing, or “share or be damned”?

Old Convictions Never Die, They Just Fade Away: The Permanency of Convictions and Cautions for Criminal Offences in the UK

Hoping Against Hope: The Prison-to-Community Transition Experience of Men With Co-Occurring Severe Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder

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