An analysis of the effects of police arrest of a brain-injured child on the parent and/or carer
Aim and background
This project examines the effects of police arrest of a child with a disability on the parents. Parents’ experiences, perceptions and emotions are explored. This research draws light on a highly under-researched area, hoping to bring about change in the training of police officers surrounding disability and the way disabled children are dealt with by the police.
Many children with disabilities display challenging behaviour as a result of their condition which can manifest itself in a number of ways. This can sometimes result in police contact and is a constant cause for concern for parents. Previous research has investigated the effects of parenting and family processes on youth behaviour and reasons why young people offend, however, there has been little research into the effects of the arrest of a child on the parent.
This project aims to analyse the perceptions of parents whose child has been detained by the police, identify the main problems, determine good practice in dealing with brain-injured children and recommend ways of alleviating the difficulties encountered.
Setting the scene
The demands placed on parents looking after any child are high. However, for parents of children with disabilities there are additional responsibilities.
Looking after a child with a disability is an extremely stressful role and many parents find it difficult to cope. Overall, parents of children with disabilities experience a large amount of anxiety and worry in their lives as their role of carer involves looking after their child twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
Research has identified wide-ranging, unrelenting and overwhelming stressors that are particularly problematic for parents bringing up a child with a disability. These factors include child care needs, emotional strains, financial costs, the constant battle for services, and negative reactions from the public and family members. Overall, caring for a disabled child can be a stressful, lonely and exhausting task.
One of the additional problems that parents of a brain-injured child may face is dealing with their child’s challenging behaviour. Many children with disabilities are diagnosed as having challenging behaviour, which can vary widely from night time disturbance to continual violence. Challenging behaviour usually occurs when a child has little control over their environment and attempts to exercise some authority. There are a range of disabilities where the behaviour exhibited as a result of the condition may be aggressive, loud and anti-social. In all its forms it can be a particularly unrelenting source of stress and upset for the whole family.
Apart from the enormous stress challenging behaviour can place on parents looking after a child with a disability in the home, one of the fears that parents of a child with a disability often have is that their child may be arrested because of the behaviour they exhibit due to the disability. Evidence states that parents of children with disabilities continually worry about their safety. This can cause a dilemma for the parents who, on the one hand, want to give their children as much freedom as possible, but on the other hand, fear for their safety. The disability can sometimes go unnoticed by the general public and the behaviour may be seen as anti-social, threatening or aggressive, resulting in police involvement. In addition, the child could be observed acting dangerously or self- harming as a result of the disability. Overall, a lack of understanding can lead to certain behaviour being misconstrued as offending behaviour. This can, therefore, result in police involvement.
Parents of children with disabilities also face additional fears and challenges when their child is arrested, such as whether their child’s disability has been correctly identified by the police and appropriately dealt with. Research suggests that there is a lack of awareness and training in the police regarding disabilities. For example, evidence states that within the criminal justice system, one of the main issues in dealing with suspects is the difficulty that police officers face in identifying a disability. In addition, it has been found that there is a severe lack of knowledge, and lack of training of hundreds of professionals in the criminal justice system, in particular, the police. In sum, there is concern that the criminal justice system, especially the police, do not effectively deal with the small but significant amount of children with disabilities that come into contact with the criminal justice system. In addition, safeguards in place may not provide enough protection for vulnerable children who suffer from disabilities.
Project design
Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used in this research. Phenomenological research aims to capture as close as possible the way in which the phenomenon is experienced. Self-selecting convenience sampling was used in this study and in total 13 parents and representatives of 8 police forces were interviewed. The data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews. Parents whose children with disabilities had been arrested were interviewed, as well as representatives of police forces, corresponding with the distribution of cases. The majority of parent interviews took place face-to-face, while some took place over the telephone at the participants’ requests. Most of the police interviews took place over the telephone, however, a proportion of the forces stated that they could only provide a written response. The parent interviews provided information on the experiences, perceptions and problems associated with the arrest of a child with a disability. The interviews with the representatives of the police forces provided information relating to force training regarding mental health and disability, in addition to police procedures in the event of a mentally vulnerable child being arrested. The researcher used content analysis in the analysis of the data.
Results
It was found that the parents experienced numerous problems when their child was arrested or detained by the police. It was revealed that in the majority of cases, parents stated that the police failed to identify the child as mentally vulnerable, while over three quarters of parents stated the police failed to appropriately deal with their child. Parents experienced problems with the police surrounding the identification of their child’s disability, failure to appropriately deal with the child’s condition, poor communication and unprofessional conduct. Parents reported problems relating to the interviewing of their children, as well as the placement of their children in cells. Overall, it was found that parents experienced the majority of problems during their time at the police station. These factors had an extremely profound effect on the parents, with the majority stating the arrest had affected them negatively in some way such as lack of sleep, appetite and finding it difficult to trust. It was evident that there was a lack of training relating to disability and neurological conditions in the police forces that were interviewed. It was evident that nearly three-quarters of the police forces interviewed provided no clear training regarding disabilities and neurological conditions and how best to deal with them in a police environment, but instead there was a focus on mental health conditions.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are presented to promote and establish good police practice in dealing with children with disabilities and help alleviate problems encountered in the future. It should be noted, however, that the police have numerous pressures within their job, such as time. Overall, the police deal with a large amount of people on a daily basis and this is compounded by specific protocol, such as paperwork and documentation surrounding each case. Police also experience pressures on training time. There are such a variety of significant areas such as disability which are imperative to police training, and training time needs to be shared amongst these issues. Implementing all of the recommendations in this chapter would impact on the amount of time they have set aside for various equally important issues and also may not be feasible or practicable.
Improvements in current police training
It was evident from the parent and police data that there is a need for the improvement of police training regarding mental health. This was the greatest recommendation by parents; nearly all parents indicating change was necessary. It is recommended that there is an overhaul of the content of police training in relation to mental health. There needs to be a level of uniformity in the provision of police training regarding disability and mental health. This needs to be seen in the initial police training for student officers, diversity training and also further specialist training. There needs to be greater focus on conditions such as ADHD, autism, learning disabilities and conduct disorders. Detailed training on a variety of disabilities and neurological conditions is required, with a particular focus on the nature and characteristics of the conditions, reasons why these individuals would encounter the criminal justice system and most importantly, how to effectively and appropriately deal with them and the families involved.
It is suggested that there be a greater focus on generating regular visits from disability organisations to educate and inform officers on various conditions, and how to best deal with mentally vulnerable persons when they make contact with the police. In terms of the initial student training, it is suggested that it be compulsory for all trainees to attend a variety of mental health placements in order to gain a variety of different experiences. Lastly, it appeared that there is no child-element in the mental health training in any of the forces. It is clear from the data in this research that there needs to be a greater focus on children with disabilities and reasons why they may be arrested or detained. Finally, greater regulation in the design and implementation of mental health training is required to ensure effective training takes place in all forces in England and Wales.
Interviews
Nearly half of the parents were unhappy with the questioning of their child. Attending the police station was extremely stressful for most of the children. For many, being questioned was also extremely frightening. It is recommended that children with disabilities are interviewed in their own home. This will make the process easier to cope with and in turn, possibly result in a more detailed and accurate statement. In addition, it is suggested that mentally vulnerable children are interviewed no more than 48 hours after the event has taken place. Some parents stated that due to the disability, their child had problems recalling events, dates and times. They were concerned that this would affect the statement and future events. Interviewing the child within 48 hours of the event would increase the chances of more detailed and accurate information.
Cells
It is recommended that all measures are taken to ensure children with disabilities are not placed in cells at the police station. Being placed in a cell was extremely traumatic for the children and upset many of the parents. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 does not stop disabled children being placed in cells, however, every attempt should be made by officers to ensure this does not happen unless absolutely necessary .
Professional behaviour
In addition, officers need to be trained in dealing sensitively and professionally with mentally vulnerable children and their families. It was evident from the findings that a large number of parents claimed they experienced unprofessional behaviour from the police. This included a lack of empathy, intimidation, and unnecessary physical violence. It is vital that an officer acts appropriately and sensitively when dealing with a mentally vulnerable child and their family, so as not to create unnecessary distress and upset. Enforcement of appropriate conduct should be a large component of the mental health training officers receive. Forces must ensure that a duty of care is recognised among all officers.
Improved communication
A large proportion of parents experienced communication problems with the police. This included reports of parents not being listened to, not being informed of events, failure to explain procedures and legal terminology, and lack of guidance. A system of communication needs to be established between the police and parents whose disabled child has been arrested or detained. Many parents described their lack of knowledge regarding the legal system and stated feeling out of their depth. It is suggested that a member of staff is assigned to certain cases so parents have a port of call about their child’s situation. This means that any queries can be discussed and parents are kept informed and up-to-date with what is happening. In addition, this means parents are not passed from one person to another, making the situation more stressful.
It is also recommended that the police invest in a pictorial toolkit or ‘childfriendly’ pamphlet for mentally vulnerable children who have been arrested, and their families. Parents stated it was difficult for their child to comprehend what was happening to them. Pictorial toolkits could be sent to the house and used to explain the process of events the child will, or might have to go through, such as fingerprinting and interviewing. This would help parents explain to their child what is happening to them and reduce stress for both child and parent. Similar versions of these toolkits could also be used during the questioning of the child to aid comprehension of what is being asked of them. This could also reduce the stress the child may experience in this situation.
Refresher training
It was evident that at the time of interview, none of the forces operated any kind of refresher training for their officers regarding disability and mental health. It is suggested that all forces introduce regular refresher training which is compulsory for all staff. This training should involve the re-education of all aspects of mental health, but specifically relating to disabilities and neurological conditions.
Specialist training for arresting officers
It is recommended that officers in ‘high risk’ roles, who are more likely to come into contact with mentally vulnerable persons receive specialist training.
This may already take place for custody sergeants, specialist interviewers and other staff working with vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, victims and offenders, however, it was evident from the data that arresting officers received no specialist training whatsoever. Arresting officers are often the first port of call when a mentally vulnerable child is arrested or detained by the police. There is a responsibility on these officers to correctly identify a mentally vulnerable child and appropriately and sensitively deal with the situation.
Formal source of information
It was clear from the data that there were a variety of sources of support officers used for help and advice regarding mental health issues. Depending on the officer’s training and which force they worked for, the level of support varied widely. It is recommended that there should be an official source of information that all officers use for queries and assistance regarding mental health conditions and other related issues. It is suggested that a specific role be developed within each force, specifically dealing with issues police officers may have in the arrest and detention of mentally vulnerable persons. A 24/7 ‘hotline’ would be extremely beneficial for officers who needed information at any time, as well as someone they can physically visit within the force.
Information should be readily available and located in one identifiable place in order for easy access for officers in need. Finally, there must be a high level of support from the criminal justice system and police force to ensure success. The training should be reviewed regularly to ensure the problems are being effectively dealt with.