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 ( ). 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, Bryan, K. (2004). Prevalence of speech and language difficulties in young offenders. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 39, 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): Humber E, and Snow PC. (2001). The language processing and production skills of juvenile offenders: A pilot investigation. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 8, ICAN (2007) language and Social Exclusion. RCSLT (2007) Speaking Out: young offenders with communication difficulties. London: RCSLT.