A joint project has set out ways to improve support for people who have left the armed forces and come into the criminal justice system. The Probation Institute, Anglia Ruskin University and Cogito Development Projects led the work. Forces in Mind Trust funded it.
The project, titled “Evidence in Action: Supporting Former Service Personnel in the Criminal Justice System”, set out to turn earlier research into practical change. It concentrated on four themes.
These were support for veterans in the community and more training for justice agencies in spotting and working with veterans. The other two were the effects of adverse childhood experiences and gender issues in military service.
According to the research, every participant had faced adversity in childhood before joining the military. Service life then gave them secure accommodation, a sense of purpose, economic stability and a place within their unit. Yet it also brought harmful influences, including drinking and hyper-masculinity.
The return to civilian life proved especially fragile. Participants lost the protection the institution had given them just as the risks they faced grew. That combination often created conditions in which harmful behaviour could take hold.
The project’s partners want the Probation Service to look into the backgrounds of veterans who enter the justice system. They also want closer liaison with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs. In their view, sentencing hearings should take note of the childhood adversity many veterans experienced earlier in life. The project also identified a need for more support for families.
The partners called for change within the military itself. They said it should tackle cultures that allow heavy drinking and negative attitudes towards women. They also want the Military Corrective Training Centre to review its current practices. Those practices affect people who have served their country and then find it hard to adapt.
