Transcript Slide 1
Juvenile and young offenders: speech, language & communication needs Professor Karen Bryan Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey. Successful feasibility study of SLT for young people in prisons: • Two year project funded by the Helen Hamlyn Trust in partnership with the Prison Service. – Set up and evaluated a speech and language therapy (SLT) service in each establishment. – Collected data on speech, language and communication needs. – Established that SLT could make a very positive contribution to the regimes. • Issues: – Security – Noise – Regimes that vary for across establishments – A language of their own – A culture that can be alien – A ‘rule’ culture and vast amounts of written information – Most interventions to address offending behaviour are verbally mediated. Sample of juveniles • Sample of 58 participants (half of an establishment). • Mean age was 17 (15.2-18.1). • 2 had ESL (lower than expected). • 90% left school before 16 and of these 18% were not attending at age 12 or younger. • Entry level literacy: 62% did not reach level one for literacy, 60% did not reach level one for numeracy. Language levels on TOAL-3 • 46%-67% of the juveniles are in the poor or very poor category. • A further 20-33% are below average for their age. • See Bryan et al (2007) Why are levels of speech, language and communication difficulty high? • Association between speech and language disorders and behaviour difficulties is well established (Humber and Snow 2001). • Difficulties in understanding make children very vulnerable in relation to education (Hooper et al 2003). • Low education and speech and literacy difficulties are risk factors for offending (Tomblin 2000). • Over-representation of hearing impaired, learning difficulty, mental health problems within the prisoner population. • Where developmental difficulties have not been addressed, these contribute to the cycle of disadvantage (RCSLT 07). SLT within the regimes • Referrals included a range of communication difficulties. • SLT focus on enabling the young person with communication difficulties to engage in the prison regime. • Access to other inputs eg education by making information accessible, and innovative developments eg a parenting group and SLT training provided for Learning Support Assistants. • SLT bridges education and health. Evidence Base • We have a very strong evidence base for speech and language therapy in relation to both developmental and acquired speech and language difficulties. • The recent ICAN report on Social Inclusion also provides an evidence base for speech and language therapy in relation to preventing and addressing social inclusion. Criminal Justice system • Not just young people who are ‘inside’ • Need to consider: – School non-attenders and excluded children – Adults with pervasive developmental problems – Children with non-standard educational backgrounds eg ‘looked after’, traveller children – Children known to post offending and offender prevention services eg probation and YOT teams. Summary • There is a need for SLT and we can demonstrate that SLT works- we have an evidence base and a theoretical model. • Demonstrating a contribution to the wider service/regime has been achieved. • We need to develop a national model for SLT provision. • Bryan K, Freer J and Furlong C. (2007) Language and communication difficulties in juvenile offenders. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 42, 505520. • Bryan, K. (2004). Prevalence of speech and language difficulties in young offenders. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 39, 391-400. • Hooper S J, Roberts J E, Zeisel SA, and Poe M. (2003). Core language predictors of behavioural functioning in early elementary school children: Concurrent and longitudinal findings. Behavioral Disorders, 29(1): 10-21. • Humber E, and Snow PC. (2001). The language processing and production skills of juvenile offenders: A pilot investigation. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 8, 1-11. • ICAN (2007) language and Social Exclusion. • RCSLT (2007) Speaking Out: young offenders with communication difficulties. London: RCSLT.