Adult protection for people with learning disabilities

1
Adult protection for people with learning
disabilities

• Julie Beadle-Brown
• j.d.beadle-brown_at_kent.ac.uk

2
Background

• Most research in learning disability is around
  sexual abuse but with varying prevalence (10 to
  80 cf. McCarthy and Thompson, 1996).
• People with LD more likely to be mistreated than
  those without (Horner-Johnson and Drum, 2006) but
  prevalence varies
• 23 adults with LD experienced physical abuse
  47, verbal abuse and bullying (Williams, 1996)
• 67 of women with LD and physical disabilities
  had experienced physical abuse (Powers et al.,
  2002).
• Brown and Stein (1998) and Brown and Stein (2000)
  found just over 30 of adult protection alerts
  related to people with LD (ID).

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Sample

• 32 of alerts in current sample related to people
  classified as having learning disabilities 1926
  alerts.
• Includes those who were classified as having
  learning disabilities and MH needs or with
  physical and sensory disabilities. Not those
  classified as older people with LD.
• Age 38.9 years (17-100)
• 42 male (sig. higher than those without LD)
• 95 White British

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Type of abuse

• Significantly different pattern to those without
  LD
• 67 had experienced a single type of abuse most
  common were physical (29) and sexual (17)
• Of the multiple abuse cases, 59 included
  physical abuse and 13 sexual abuse
• Overall, 48 of all alerts included physical
  abuse 21 sexual abuse.

5
Perpetrator
6
Location and perpetrator

• More likely to happen in residential care than in
  own home more likely to happen in day services
  or public places than for those without LD
• At least 5 of cases involved more than one
  perpetrator sig. less than those without LD.
• Perpetrators more likely to be men.
• 52 of alerts involve a single male perpetrator
  (compared to 34 of those without LD).
• 43 of alerts related to abuse by staff or
  managers 26 by other service users this is
  sig. more than for those without LD.

7
Outcome and response

• No significant pattern for those with LD compared
  to those with LD.
• Except that ongoing monitoring by the family or
  by contracting department within KCC or Medway,
  was less likely for those with LD

8
Increased risk of abuse out-of-area placements

• 61 of all OOA cases were people with LD.
• 339 alerts relating to people with LD were people
  placed from OOA (21)
• No differences between OOA and from Kent cases in
  terms of gender and ethnicity.
• Significant associations between OOA status and
  type and location of abuse

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Type of abuse
OOA
Kent
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Type of abuse - summary

• More likely to experience multiple types of abuse
  (42 versus 31).
• Less likely to experience financial abuse
• More likely to experience institutional abuse and
  neglect

11
Location and perpetrator

• Abuse more likely to happen in residential care
  for those placed from out-of-area (86.5 compared
  to 49), less likely in day care (0.6 compared
  to 6.7) and less likely in other settings (1.8
  compared to 9.7).
• More likely to experience abuse from more than
  one perpetrator (17 compared to 3.9)
• 27.6 of alerts relating to those from OOA were
  recording as involving both genders ie. at
  least one male and one female perpetrator
  compares to 10.1 for those placed from Kent.
• More likely to abused by staff (55 compared to
  33) also more likely to be abused by other
  service users (36.8 compared to 24.5)
• Perpetrator and location findings not surprising
  given that people from OOA will almost always
  live in residential care

12
Referrers, outcomes and responses

• Cases relating to those from OOA were less likely
  to be referred by managers and staff (38.4) and
  more likely to be referred by family (8.1) and
  other sources e.g. health prof, inspectors
  etc(53.5) than those placed from Kent (50.8,
  1.8, 47.4 respectively).
• Investigation more likely to occur for those
  placed from OOA in particular joint
  investigation more likely
• Inspection and registration more likely to be
  involved
• Case more likely to be confirmed and less likely
  to be recorded as insufficient evidence.
• Less likely to result in no further action
• Although not sig. there was a trend towards a
  higher frequency of increased or ongoing
  monitoring by placing authority and by the
  regulatory authority

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Summary

• Analysis of the alerts relating to people with
  learning disabilities suggests that
• Those with learning disabilities experience a
  different pattern of abuse to other groups, with
  higher levels of physical and sexual abuse.
• Living in residential care may be an important
  factor in predicting the nature, location and
  perpetrator of abuse.
• Those from out-of-area placements may be at a
  greater risk of abuse are at least at greater
  risk of abuse of a more complex nature (multiple
  types, multiple perpetrators).
• Processes appear more thorough when the person is
  placed from out-of-area.
• Need more research where characteristics of the
  person are better documented to explore the risk
  factors of abuse, preferably with access to whole
  population data for a defined area so that
  incidence of abuse in the different groups can be
  further explored.