Offending behaviour, health and wellbeing of military veterans in the criminal justice system

Abstract

BackgroundA small but significant proportion of military veterans become involved in the criminal justice system (CJS) after leaving service. Liaison and Diversion (L&D) services aim to identify vulnerable offenders in order to provide them with the health/welfare support they need, and (where possible) divert them away from custody. An administrative database of L&D service-users was utilised to compare the needs of veterans with those of non-veteran L&D service-users.MethodNational data collected from 29 L&D services in 2015–2016 was utilised. Of the 62,397 cases, 1,067 (2%) reported previous service in the Armed Forces, and 48,578 had no previous service history. The associations between veteran status and socio-demographic characteristics, offending behaviour, health- and mental health-problems were explored. The associations between specific types of offending and mental health problems within the veterans in the sample were also investigated.ResultsVeterans tended to be older, and less likely to be unemployed than non-veterans, but just as likely to have unstable living arrangements (including homelessness). Veteran status was associated with increased levels of interpersonal violence, motoring offences, anxiety disorders and hazardous drinking patterns. Veteran status was associated with decreased levels of acquisitive offending, schizophrenia, ADHD, and substance misuse. Among veterans, the presence of an anxiety disorder (umbrella term which included GAD, Phobias, PTSD etc.) was associated with increased interpersonal violence, alcohol misuse was associated with increased motoring offences, and substance use was associated with increased acquisitive offending.ConclusionsOur study indicates that among offenders in the CJS who have been identified as needing health or welfare support, veterans differ from non-veterans in terms of their health and welfare needs and offending behaviour. These differences may be influenced by the impact of military service and the transition into civilian life. Our findings support the identification of military personnel within the CJS to provide appropriate interventions and support to improve outcomes and reduce offending.

The use of an impact framework to evaluate the impact of research on policy and practice: Screening questionnaires for intellectual disability

“…Many studies, published by independent researchers, have cited the research underpinning and/or used the LDSQ and CAIDS-Q as part of their own research. This has included their potential use by nurses (Delahunty, 2017); in homeless services (Stone et al, 2019); in relation to the impact of immigration on mental health (von Werthern et al, 2018); in criminal justice services (Ali and Galloway, 2016;Board, Ali and Bartlett, 2015;Boer et al, 2016;Chaplin et al, 2017;Courtney and Lascelles, 2010;Ellem and Richards, 2018;Forrester et al, 2017;Geijsen, Kop and de Ruiter 2018;Gudjonsson, Gonzalez and Young 2019;Gulati et al, , 2018aKaal, 2010;Kaal, Nijman and Moonen 2015: McCarthy et al, 2015McKinnon, Thorp and Grube, 2015;Murphy, Gardner and Freeman 2015;O'Mahony, Smith and Milne, 2011;Poynter, 2011;Sarrett, 2017;Sen et al, 2018;Short et al, 2018;Silva, Gough and Weeks 2015;Wakeling and Ramsay, 2019;Young et al, 2013Young et al, , 2018; as part of treatment and intervention studies (Idro et al, 2019;Hall et al, 2019); as part of the neuropsychological assessment or screening processes (Aubry and Bourdin, 2018;Bjørgen, Gimse and Søndenaa. 2016;Doyle and Mattson, 2015;McInnis, Hills and Chapman 2012;Murphy, 2019;…”

Characteristics, institutional behaviour, and post-release outcomes of federal Veteran and non-Veteran men offenders

“…In addition, Veterans had higher educational attainment and previous employment experience, based on their service in the CAF, and they were older; therefore, retraining was likely less necessary than for the non-Veteran group, which is consistent with findings with provincially incarcerated Veterans. 20,21 In addition, although fewer Veterans than non-Veterans were employed during release, among those who were employed, Veterans were as likely as non-Veterans to have full-time employment. However, among unemployed offenders, Veterans were more likely to have other income sources or barriers that prevented them from working.…”

Cilalanmiş Kahramanlar: Ameri̇kan Kurgusunda Savaş Yüzleri̇

“…The impact of veterans' experience in the military continues to affect the livelihood of many of them passively. A small, but significant, percentage of war veterans become involved in criminal activities after leaving service (Short et al, 2018). In "Prayer in The Furnace," many veterans are involved in "crimes and drug use" (Klay, 2015: 162); One veteran helps his friend to kill his wife, "then mutilated her body trying to get it into the too-small hole they dug" (162), another, "high on cocaine, shot at a nightclub with an AR-15 and seriously injured one woman" (162), while another two, Beilin and Russo, commit suicide.…”