The subjective experiences of liaison and diversion staff who encounter individuals with autism
Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice
ISSN: 2056-3841
Article publication date: 25 April 2020
Issue publication date: 21 May 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Research suggests that individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) are inconsistently supported throughout the criminal justice system (CJS) in the UK. Bradley (2009) recommended the introduction of criminal justice liaison and diversion (L&D) teams to bridge the gap between the CJS and mental health services and provide a more consistent and improved quality of support for individuals with vulnerabilities, including those with autism. This study aims to explore the experiences of staff working in L&D teams who encounter individuals with ASD.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews were conducted with ten L&D team members. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to gain insight into their lived experiences of working with autism in the CJS.
Findings
Interpretation of individual transcripts resulted in three super-ordinate themes: “feeling helpless and helpful in the system”, “transition to knowing” and “impact on self”. Each theme encapsulated a number of sub-themes depicting the limitations of services, difficult environments, making a difference, lack of understanding, developing understanding and the impact of these experiences on staff’s confidence, attitudes and well-being.
Practical implications
Criminal justice services are limited for people with autism. There is a lack of autism awareness by staff. Lack of awareness impacts staff attitudes and confidence. Training in autism should be provided to criminal justice staff.
Originality/value
This research highlights the limitations of services available for individuals with autism and the widespread lack of autism awareness. These concerns directly impacted participants’ confidence, attitudes and well-being. Recommendations are proposed to guide future practice and research including increasing availability of access to ASD services, enforcing mandatory autism-specific training for staff and routinely collecting service-user feedback.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
St Andrew’s Healthcare can be acknowledged as funders for the research.
Citation
Burch, E. and Rose, J. (2020), "The subjective experiences of liaison and diversion staff who encounter individuals with autism", Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 137-150. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-11-2019-0067
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited