The development of a sex offender assessment and treatment service within a community learning disability team (the SHEALD project): part 2

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to provide a commentary on the previous paper in this issue on ''The development of a sex offender assessment and treatment service within a Community Learning Disability Team (the SHEALD project): part 2''.Design/methodology/approach -The authors consider the nature of traditional service delivery for people with learning/intellectual disabilities and the potential that services have for the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of these vulnerable people. Findings -The authors argue that effective community based treatment/support is best delivered in a way that acknowledges and employs the range of skills offered by practitioners from health and social care backgrounds.Originality/value -Both SHEALD and HIST are examples of community treatment programmes which show that a person-centred approach supported by a dedicated and consistent team of practitioners may be an effective way of addressing complex, high-risk behaviours.The nature of traditional service delivery compounded by society's inability to accept both the sexuality (Futcher, 2011) and the abuse (Eastgate, 2005) of people with a learning disability has persistently opened the door to their physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Way back in the 1970s one of us Angela Olsen (AO) started work in a residential setting with adults who have intellectual disabilities (ID). It quickly became apparent that the staff team appeared to condone an inappropriate sexual relationship between a member of staff and a 16-year-old boy who had no verbal communication. During the time, AO was there other staff members made no efforts to address or challenge the situation regardless of her protestations.Sometime later, the victim of this abuse was referred to a community learning disability team where AO was a social worker. The referral was the result of a catalogue of sexually assaultive behaviour towards several children and young men in residential and day services. His behaviour instigated a domino effect, with two of his victims subsequently committing assaults on other younger boys.We fear that this experience is not uncommon to many of you, who have taken the time to read this commentary. This familiarity will probably also extend to the consequences of the behaviours for the perpetrators. An abuser from the ''non-disabled'' world with this history of behaviour would