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SUMMARY:Three years since the murder of Steven Hoskins: How do we treat\, 
 support and manage offenders and suspected offenders with learning disabil
 ities in our communities? - Jessica Wheeler\, Department of Psychiatry
DTSTART:20091105T130000Z
DTEND:20091105T140000Z
UID:TALK20981@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr James Kirkbride
DESCRIPTION:In the first week of July\, 2006 Steven Hoskins was viciously 
 taunted\, beaten\, humiliated\, drugged and then murdered\; forced over th
 e edge of a railway viaduct\, his hands and face kicked from the safety ra
 il. Steven was a 39 year old man with learning disabilities\, known to loc
 al health and social services and described as having ‘substantial’ su
 pport needs. He was known at times to drink quite heavily and there had be
 en some contact with the police\; on the day before his death he had been 
 detained at a local store for shop-lifting. He was killed in the most sadi
 stic fashion by people who had been living in his bed-sit and using his mo
 ney\; people he had described as his friends.\n\nIn many ways this descrip
 tion of Steven Hoskins' life (though thankfully not his horrific death) mi
 rrors the lives of people I have been visiting and interviewing (adults wi
 th intellectual disabilities who live ‘independently’ in the community
  and are suspected or convicted of committing criminal or anti-social acts
 ) over the last 18 months of my PhD research. This aspect of my work explo
 res accounts of daily interactions drawn from interviews with adults with 
 ID\, members of their families\, their paid support workers\, and others i
 nvolved in overseeing or managing their statutory service provisions. Comp
 lex concerns emerge and shape care practices reflecting conflicting indivi
 dual\, institutional\, and professional perspectives\, and also emotional 
 responses. I would like to focus on some tensions\, relating particularly 
 to contradictory legal and social constructions of a person with ID and of
 fending behaviour\, as: ‘a person with rights\, who should be included i
 n society and fully supported to be independent and to make autonomous cho
 ices’ (see Valuing People Now\, 2009\; Mental Capacity Act\, 2005)\; ‘
 someone who may pose a risk to society’ (Criminal Justice & Immigration 
 Act\, 2008\; Mental Health Act\, 2007)\; and ‘someone who may be vulnera
 ble to abuse’ (Protection of Vulnerable Adults\, 2009\; and No Secrets\,
  2000). These tensions highlight limitations in the current legislative an
 d policy array\, both in relation to underlying conceptualisations of auto
 nomy and support\, and also as a source of guidance by which to evaluate\,
  promote\, or protect good relationships in this context.\n\n
LOCATION:Entertaining Room\, Darwin College
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