Successful Community Resettlement of Men with Learning Disabilities Who Have Completed a Hospital-Based Treatment for Sexual Offending

Abstract

Treatment for sexual offending equips men with learning disabilities with tools required for pro-social community living. In the past, risk aversiveness prevented discharges from hospital, but fieldwork took place at the time of the Transforming Care Agenda, which sought to enable more people to return to their communities. This offered the opportunity to gain unique insights into community resettlement planning in cases that require ongoing risk management. Eleven case studies were examined through qualitative interviews with the men and professionals. A realist evaluation methodology was applied to examine how treatment outcomes manifested longer term. It was evidenced that treatment had equipped men with risk management tools, as well as encouraged them to develop realistic visions for their pro-social futures and that both outcomes come to fruition under conditions that allow positive risk taking. The welfareist and user-led nature of working towards pro-social community living makes this a useful toolkit for social work, whilst input from forensic health services was valued for skilling up the social care workforce. However, discharge practices continued to be influenced by contextual factors, including local availability of resources and personal attributes, such as men's sexual preferences and levels of compliance and some men remained in hospital.