Young offenders reap benefits of speech therapy
Neil Puffett
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Research carried out by a youth offending team (YOT) in London has revealed the benefits of speech and language therapy for young offenders.
The two-year project, funded by the European Commission, found that young people with moderate communication difficulties benefited significantly from six sessions of therapy, with progress reported in almost all the areas tested. Those with more complex and severe needs showed less progress.
The research, the first controlled study of its type, was led by Ealing YOT and Ealing Hospital NHS Trust.
It concluded that those with more complex needs would benefit from more individualised intervention packages and further research is needed in this area.
It builds on existing evidence that shows that speech and language therapy can have a significant, positive impact on young offenders by increasing the effectiveness of existing interventions and reducing offending.
"The report recommends that all staff working with young people be offered specialist training to better recognise and understand the impact of hidden communication difficulties on offending behaviour," a spokesman for Ealing YOT said.
"It also recommends that further research is needed to test whether interventions with young people with less complex needs could be delivered by staff who are not speech and language therapist specialists within youth offending teams."
The study involved comparing a group of young offenders accessing the youth offending service in Ealing and a separate group in Hammersmith.
The Ealing group were screened for communication difficulties and had six intensive sessions with a speech and language therapist.
The Hammersmith group was used as a control group and received the screening, but did not receive the intervention sessions.
Using self-rating questionnaires, structured interviews and assessment on language tasks, both groups were measured to see if any improvements had taken place in areas likely to lead to reductions in offending in the long term.
These included anger management, self esteem, the ability to express feelings verbally and to understand other’s feelings, as well as their ability to negotiate and compromise.