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Friend or fake? Mate crimes and people with learning disabilities

Friend or fake? Mate crimes and people with learning disabilities Purpose – This short paper aims to promote the issues of mate crime, which many people with a learning disability are victims of. For some this will lead them into committing criminal acts and bring them into contact with the criminal justice system. Design/methodology/approach – These are the findings from the work of the Safety Net project. Much of the information is anecdotal and certainly was not the focus of the project; however, this does suggest that the findings within this paper and the project are likely to be replicated across the country. Findings – Mate crime is a hidden crime, reporting of these crimes is low; they are often committed by people who the person with a learning disability thought was their friend. However, the Safety Net project has heard examples of people taken advantage of by “friends” which have led to drug dealing in their flat, flats used for the storing of stolen goods and women with a learning disability into prostitution. Research limitations/implications – More research is certainly needed in this area with data required to confirm the assumptions within this paper. Practical implications – The criminal justice system may need to have a greater consideration for the role of those around the person with a learning disability when they are charged with criminal offences. Originality/value – Mate crime, a term used by this project, is just coming into common usage to highlight this type of exploitation. Although the focus of this Safety Net project was not on those offending we have come across examples of this. More work is needed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Learning Disabilities and Offending Behaviour Emerald Publishing

Friend or fake? Mate crimes and people with learning disabilities

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
2042-0927
DOI
10.1108/20420921111207855
Publisher site
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Abstract

Purpose – This short paper aims to promote the issues of mate crime, which many people with a learning disability are victims of. For some this will lead them into committing criminal acts and bring them into contact with the criminal justice system. Design/methodology/approach – These are the findings from the work of the Safety Net project. Much of the information is anecdotal and certainly was not the focus of the project; however, this does suggest that the findings within this paper and the project are likely to be replicated across the country. Findings – Mate crime is a hidden crime, reporting of these crimes is low; they are often committed by people who the person with a learning disability thought was their friend. However, the Safety Net project has heard examples of people taken advantage of by “friends” which have led to drug dealing in their flat, flats used for the storing of stolen goods and women with a learning disability into prostitution. Research limitations/implications – More research is certainly needed in this area with data required to confirm the assumptions within this paper. Practical implications – The criminal justice system may need to have a greater consideration for the role of those around the person with a learning disability when they are charged with criminal offences. Originality/value – Mate crime, a term used by this project, is just coming into common usage to highlight this type of exploitation. Although the focus of this Safety Net project was not on those offending we have come across examples of this. More work is needed.

Journal

Journal of Learning Disabilities and Offending Behaviour – Emerald Publishing

Published: Oct 10, 2011

Keywords: Safety net; Hate crime; Mate crime; Crimes; Befriended; Exploitation Learning disabilities

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