Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Cloudy outlook
- Author:
- SIMMONS Ken
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 3.2.94, 1994, pp.20-21.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
Discusses the findings of a research study by the Bristol Advocacy Project; the aim of which was to see what citizen advocacy looks like from the inside, through looking at the ways services reacted to the involvement of advocates.
Pleading the case for advocates
- Author:
- EATON Lynn
- Journal article citation:
- Search, Winter 1993, pp.14-16.
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Reports on research carried out as part of the Bristol Advocacy Project, which looked at the practical problems faced by advocates and the partners they support.
Speaking up about advocacy: findings from a partnership research project
- Authors:
- CHAPMAN Melanie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40(1), March 2012, pp.71-80.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Advocacy is about speaking up for yourself and your rights or speaking up for other people. There are 4 types of advocacy: self-advocacy; citizen advocacy; professional advocacy; and peer advocacy. The aim of this research project was to explore people’s understandings of advocacy and to identify gaps in advocacy provision for people with learning disabilities and their families. The study method used a partnership research approach carried out by a research team consisting of people with learning disabilities and people without learning disabilities. Four focus groups were conducted with different stakeholders: 17 people with learning disabilities; 9 family carers; 6 direct support workers; and 6 service managers and commissioners. The findings are organised under the following themes: understandings of advocacy; sources of advocacy; need for advocacy; barriers to advocacy; and other influences on advocacy. The findings show that some people are confused about the different types of advocacy. Advocacy could be improved: by having more information about what support there is; by increasing choice and control in people’s lives; by changing the way services think; and by having advocates who do not work for services and who have time to get to know a person well.
Exploring advocacy for people with learning disabilities
- Author:
- TILLEY Liz
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 10(10), December 2010, pp.30-33.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Advocacy plays an important role in supporting people with learning disabilities to ‘have a voice’. It can also facilitate individuals to participate more fully in decisions affecting their own lives, and to support individuals to work together to improve the situation and collective experience of people with learning disabilities. This article describes research focusing on 2 advocacy organisations in the southeast of England. The main aim of the research was to explore the practice of advocacy for people with learning disabilities. The research included interviews with members of the 2 groups and observation of internal and external meetings. The results provide a sense of how different stakeholders talk about and view the practice of advocacy, demonstrating that: advocacy means different things to different people; support workers had a tendency to under-represent their roles; self-advocates were happy with their support workers; the groups operated in different way to People First; and the commissioning and funding of organisations was problematic. The article also discusses how the commissioning process is increasingly tied to monitoring the impact of advocacy, and the issues this raises around power and control for advocacy organisations. It concludes by arguing that these funding practices place pressure on advocacy groups, making it ever more difficult for them to articulate some of the real and important complexities involved in their practice.
'Who did what?': a participatory action research project to increase group capacity for advocacy
- Authors:
- GARCIA-IRIARTE E., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 22(1), January 2009, pp.10-22.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This participatory action research (PAR) project involved a collaboration with an American self-advocacy group of people with intellectual disabilities, People First, that sought to build group capacity for advocacy. The study used a focus group, sustained participatory engagement and a reflexive process to gather qualitative and quantitative data over 15 months. All methods were adapted to ensure accessibility and to support active participation. The collaboration generated action products, including tools to support advocacy and an accessible action and reflection process. Research findings suggest that active participation is essential for group control, but alone does not automatically lead to control. The manner in which supports are provided, including member supports, advisor supports, strategy supports and systems supports, influences the extent to which members have a sense of control over decision making and participation and thus, improved capacity for advocacy. A PAR approach can be used to increase a group's capacity for advocacy and meaningfully involve self-advocacy groups in participatory research that leads to change.
Demonstrating control of decisions by adults with learning difficulties who have high support needs
- Author:
- JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2001
- Pagination:
- 4p.
- Place of publication:
- York
Police interviews in Scotland: use of appropriate adults
- Authors:
- BOWDEN Keith, WILSON Ian
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour, 6(3/4), 2015, pp.195-203.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show the development of Appropriate Adult services in Scotland over the past nine years and considers how this differs from the rest of the UK. Design/methodology/approach: New analysis of existing statistical information is provided to show pattern of demand, type of interview, nature of mental disorder involved and regional differences. Findings: Growth in demand for services is identified for both suspect and witness interviews, with people with learning disabilities most frequently receiving support. There is significant variation in the pattern of referrals across Scotland. Practical implications: The results reflect heightened awareness amongst police officers of the need for Appropriate Adults, but there should be examination of the different types of provision to promote equity of service. (Edited publisher abstract)
Imposed identities and limited opportunities: advocacy agency staff perspectives on the construction of their clients with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- DOROZENKO Kate P., ROBERTS Lynne D., BISHOP Brian J.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 19(3), 2015, pp.282-299.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
Intellectual disability is commonly conceptualised as stigmatised identity; however, within the literature, the notion of a damaged identity is contested. The aim of this research was to explore the social construction of intellectual disability from the perspective of staff who work closely with people with intellectual disabilities. Informed by a contextualist perspective, this research was based on interviews with five staff members of an advocacy agency in a regional area of Australia. Causal layered analysis was used to deconstruct the interview data. Analysis of the interactions that emerged across the causal layers revealed a complex dynamic of world views, which served to dehumanise people with intellectual disabilities and blame them for their own fate (victim blaming). For transformative change to occur, understandings of the ‘problems’ of intellectual disability must be reformulated and those social structures and processes that support the relationship between the powerful and the powerless must be challenged. (Publisher abstract)
No one knows: police responses to suspects with learning disabilities and learning difficulties: a review of policy and practice
- Author:
- JACOBSON Jessica
- Publisher:
- Prison Reform Trust
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 48p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Police safeguards for dealing with suspects with learning difficulties are “patchy and inconsistent”, according to new research. No One Knows: Police Responses to Suspects with Learning Disabilities and Learning Difficulties, a report published by the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) last week, noted an “increased risk of miscarriage of justice” when people with learning difficulties are taken into police custody. The report highlighted problems with inconsistent legal advice, lack of training amongst police staff and patchy provision of ‘Appropriate Adults’, which are in place to support and advise vulnerable people in custody. It said suspects’ needs are frequently not identified and that there is limited referral of suspects for clinical attention. The report is part of a wider PRT programme exploring the experiences of people with learning difficulties who come in contact with the criminal justice system. It recommended that PACE provisions be amended to place a duty on the police to provide legal advice for all suspects with learning difficulties during detention and interviews. It also called for ring-fenced funding for statutory provision of Appropriate Adults, and a common system across all police forces to screen suspects to identify people with learning difficulties.
The views and experiences of people with intellectual disabilities concerning advocacy
- Authors:
- LLEWELLYN Penny, NORTHWAY Ruth
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 12(3), September 2008, pp.213-228.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
This article discusses the first stage of a grounded theory study in which people with intellectual disabilities participated in focus groups to explore their definitions of advocacy and their advocacy support needs. Participants' ideas were influenced by their situation, the availability and type of support offered, and their relationships with supporters. Many different definitions of advocacy were revealed which were classified as reactive or proactive advocacy at micro, meso or macro level. The aim of advocacy was seen as empowerment, but this occurred only when support was readily available, concentrated on people's abilities, and facilitated opportunities for them to exert maximum possible control over their lives.