There is increasing evidence suggesting a link between ADHD and criminality, including a strong association between ADHD symptoms and the likelihood of being on probation or in prison. Most studies investigating the prevalence of ADHD in prison populations have focused on adult male offenders. In the current study, 69 female prisoners were screened for both childhood and adult ADHD symptoms using the Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale -IV (BAARS-IV). The results indicate that 41% of the prisoners met the diagnostic criteria for ADHD in childhood, and continued to meet criteria for ADHD as adults. More importantly young female prisoners (aged 18-25) were significantly more likely to report symptoms of ADHD than older prisoners. Prisoners who reported symptoms of ADHD also reported high levels of impairment associated with these symptoms. A better understanding of the prevalence of ADHD in female prison units can highlight specific areas for ADHD in Female Prisoners 2 intervention during rehabilitation, as well as the management of serious incidents within prison.
Research has indicated that, compared with the general population, the prevalence of offenders with ADHD in prison is high. The situation for offenders managed in the community by the Probation Service is unknown. This study aimed to bridge the gap in our knowledge by (1) surveying the awareness of probation staff about ADHD and (2) screening the rate of offenders with ADHD managed within the service. In the first study, a brief survey was circulated to offender managers working in 7 Probation Trusts in England and Wales asking them to estimate the prevalence of offenders with ADHD on their caseload, the presenting problems of these offenders and challenges to their management, and the training received on the treatment and management of offenders with ADHD. The survey had a return rate of 11%. Probation staff perceived that 7.6% of their caseload had ADHD and identified this group to have difficulties associated with neuropsychological dysfunction, lifestyle problems and compliance problems. They perceived that these problems hindered meaningful engagement with the service and rehabilitation. Challenges to their management were perceived to be due to both internal processes (motivation and engagement) and external processes (inadequate or inappropriate interventions). Few respondents had received training in the management of offenders with ADHD and most wanted more support. In the second study, a sub-sample of 88 offenders in one Probation Trust completed questionnaires to screen for DSM-IV ADHD in childhood and current symptoms. The screen found an estimated prevalence of 45.45% and 20.51% for childhood and adulthood ADHD respectively and these were strongly associated with functional impairment. Thus probation staff considerably underestimated the likely rate, suggesting there are high rates of under-detection and/or misdiagnosis among offenders with ADHD in their service. The results indicate that screening provisions are needed in probation settings, together with training for staff.
Psychology and psychotherapy have long been regarded as a Eurocentric and largely homogenous field primarily dominated by white, socioeconomically privileged/middle-class women. This lack of racial/ethnic diversity and inclusion within the field has become an area of increased focus of discussion within psychological professions due to its significant impact on the care, experience, and outcomes of service users. Individuals from racially minoritised backgrounds face multiple systemic barriers when accessing the profession during their training and as qualified psychological professionals. Extensive research indicates that clinical psychologists from racially minoritised backgrounds experience racism in clinical psychology and this has persisted over the years. Similarly, in the psychotherapy literature, there has been an emphasis on addressing the lack of acknowledgement of racial disparities in psychotherapy training. As a result, it feels imperative that there is a radical shift in psychology and psychotherapy which involves acknowledging its role in creating and perpetuating racism and discrimination, as well as an urgent need to adopt a decolonised, socio-constructionist approach. Despite this, there has been little focus or momentum on clinical psychology training programmes to actively address issues of racism and to develop anti-racist practice. The Newcastle University Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme recently made an active stance to adopt anti-racist practice and implement an approach that supports collective responsibility and accountability. In this article, the authors engage in a critical, radical, and collective dialogue around their experiences, and share their reflections on developing a clinical psychology anti-racism strategy, attending to power, discomfort, and the role of systemic oppression. The diverse voices of trainers, trainees, and aspiring clinical psychologists presented suggest that collective action, solidarity, as well as attending to power and relationality, had a profound impact on the development of the anti-racism strategy, as well as on relationships, trust, and relational safety. The authors offer critical reflections on how these experiences can be helpful in further understanding the complexity and multi-faceted nature of anti-racist praxis in clinical psychology and psychotherapy.
Background:The Children and Young People Secure Estate consists of establishments that accommodate young people, either in a welfare capacity, under Section 25 of the Children’s Act 1989 or detention and sentencing by the criminal courts. There is evidence that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) adults and children are subject to disproportionate admission and detention in secure settings (Corrigall & Bhugra, 2013; Lammy, 2017).Aims:To explore whether similar trends around disproportionality are evidenced for BAME children and young people accommodated for welfare reasons under the Children’s Act 1989.Methods:All admissions to a Secure Children’s Home in the north of England over a five year period were analysed. Admissions were solely for welfare reasons. Data was extracted from Section 25 Referral Forms and analysed exploring ethnicity, rates of admission and length of stay.Results:164 young people were admitted to the Secure Children’s Home over five years. Black young people were 3.9 times more likely to be admitted to the Secure Children’s Home in comparison to their White counterparts. Those identified as Dual/Mixed Heritage were 6.2 times more likely to be admitted compared to children and young people who identified as White. No differences in length of stay were found.Conclusions:This study is one of the first to explore ethnicity and admission rates for children and young people detained for welfare reasons under the Children’s Act 1989 and found significant disproportionately similar to those that have been documented in other secure settings. Implications for practice and care are outlined.
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals are underrepresented in the UK clinical psychology workforce and in the wider psychological professions (Scior et al., 2016). An ethnically diverse and representative workforce within the psychological professions is imperative to addressing the well-documented inequity in access and disparities in the NHS (Kline, 2014). Diverse organisations also lead to safer, more effective, and culturally responsive service provision (Haigh et al., 2014), including better patient care (Kline, 2014).The lack of diversity in the qualified workforce is reflected on clinical psychology training programmes, including evidence that applicants from BAME backgrounds experience multiple barriers at several stages across recruitment and selection as well as during training itself (Ragavan, 2018). These disparities exist despite psychology being a popular choice of undergraduate degree for BAME students (Turpin & Fensom, 2004). Recently there have been calls to ‘even the playing field’ and to develop initiatives to increase equity of access for aspiring clinical psychologists from a BAME background (BPS, 2015).With this in mind the North East Clinical Psychology Training programmes collaborated to develop a regional BAME mentoring scheme to address evidenced disparities faced by BAME aspiring Clinical Psychologists. To initiate the mentoring scheme, a virtual Launch event was hosted by the Newcastle Clinical Psychology Doctorate in August 2020.Out of 120 attendees, 48 completed the pre-evaluation questionnaire and 28 attendees completed the post-evaluation questionnaire. Some questions were relevant to both North-East courses, relating, for example, to a general sense of belonging in the profession and confidence and hopefulness about securing a training place in future. Other questions were specific to the Newcastle Clinical Psychology Doctorate and assessed, for example, intention to apply to this course, belief that training at Newcastle would be positive, and understanding around what skills and experiences would support a strong application to Newcastle.For the Newcastle-specific questions, results indicated that post-event, participants reported that they were significantly more likely to understand the skills and experience required for admission to the course. Participants were also more likely to believe that the Newcastle DClinPsy training programme would support individuals from a BAME background, however this result was not statistically significant. For the cross-course questions, participants reported that they were more likely to feel inspired to be part of the profession following the event, however this finding was not statistically significant. Qualitative analysis found that participants felt the event was ‘insightful’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘informative’.Although the feedback from participants was generally positive, this paper additionally explores and critically reflects on the value of widening access schemes and highlights the need to address structural and institutional barriers and disparities in clinical psychology beyond ‘widening access schemes’.
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