Responding to vulnerability

Question 1

Larkins (2009)

Answer 1

vulnerability is a state or condition whereby a person is in danger, under threat, experiencing health challenges, at risk, and/or requiring support/protection
-broad definition, possibly too broad

Question 2

College of policing - suspects + witnesses, vulnerability def

Answer 2

“people who have become (or at risk of becoming) victims of ‘child abuse; child exploitation; domestic abuse; female genital mutilation; forced marriage; honour based violence; modern slavery; prostitution; serious sexual offences; stalking and harassment’ and ‘ a person is vulnerable if as a result of their situation or circumstances, they are unable to take care of or protect themselves or others from harm or exploitation’”

Question 3

PEEL Inspections (2010) - local def

Answer 3

“nine forces use their own definition or a combination of these definitions. This means that conceivably a victim who is identified as vulnerable in one force is not so identified in the neighbouring force area, and so could receive a different level of service”

Question 4

Milne et al. (1999)

Answer 4

Research has shown people with a learning disability are more prone to suggestion

Question 5

Luna (2009)

Answer 5

Vulnerability is not always easy to spot and is often layered

Question 6

Shaw et al. (2008), Weaver et al. (2003)

Answer 6

Dual diagnosis should be regarded as the norm

Question 7

Asquith + Bartkowiak-Theron (2012)

Answer 7

Not everyone identifies as vulnerable but ‘many vulnerable groups have now become the target of non-negotiable, precautionary protocols for police to abide by, on order to address the disadvantage caused by a variety of attributes (such as age, mental health, language)”

Question 8

Asquith + Bartkowiak-Theron (2012, 94)

Answer 8

‘blanket attribution’ of vulnerability according to legislation/policy wastes limited resources + doesn’t identify those with cross sectional ways they are vulnerable

Question 9

Fineman (2008)

Answer 9

-Vulnerability is a norm not exception particularly in the CJS
-‘vulnerability is and should be understood to be universal and constant, inherent in the human condition’

Question 10

McConville et al. (1991), Ericson (1981)

Answer 10

-‘making crime’
-miscarriages of justice exposed ineffective practices e.g. eliciting ‘confessions’ in interview pre-PACE
-vulnerable groups may be more susceptible/not understand questions/adversarial relationship/consequences

Question 11

Peter Sutcliffe Inquiry + Byford Report (1981)

Answer 11

• senior officers lacked ‘flexibility of mind’

Question 12

Andrew Evans 1972

Answer 12

convicted for murder of 14y/o girl - mental health issues (possibly PTSD), confessed to murdering her because he saw her in a dream - served 25 yrs

Question 13

Prison Reform Trust (2017) - educational needs

Answer 13

51% of people entering prison were assessed as having literacy skills expected of an 11y/o - 3x higher than the general adult population (15%)

Question 14

Prison Reform Trust (2017) - depression

Answer 14

46% of women prisoners report having attempted suicide at some point in their lives, more than twice the rate male prisoners (21%) and higher than gen. pop. (6%)

Question 15

Prison Reform Trust (2017) - mental health

Answer 15

26% of women + 16% of men said they had received treatment for a mental health problem in the year before custody

Question 16

Hester (2013)

Answer 16

High rates of attrition where victim is considered more vulnerable

Question 17

1. Loucks (2007)
2. criminal justice joint inspection (2015)

Answer 17

1. 20-30% of people in prison are estimated to have learning difficulties /disabilities that interfere with their ability to cope with the CJS
2. however, inspectors found the system is failing to identify people with learning disabilities/difficulties accurately

Question 18

Gudjonsson (1993)

Answer 18

Clinical interviews with 2 suspects at police stations. concluded around 15% of sample ‘fulfilled PACE criteria for the presence of an appropriate adult… [which] is considerably higher than the 4% of whom the police identified as needing an appropriate adult’

Question 19

Symonds (1980)

Answer 19

‘secondary victimisation’

Question 20

Stanko (1989)

Answer 20

Domestic abuse when complaint is withdrawn: “…you [the police] arrest the husband and suddenly she is in lave again”

Question 21

Heidensohn (2003)

Answer 21

chid abuse units are considered ‘soft’ (‘cardigan squad’) - not ‘real’ police work

Question 22

Scotland Yard Report (1954), Coontz (2005)

Answer 22

‘There are only about 20 murders a year in London and not all are serious - some are just husbands killing their wives’

Question 23

Judge David Osbourne 2015

Answer 23

says rape figures would drop if “women covered themselves up and did not drink themselves legless”