More needs to be done to help veterans in the justice system

Work with Offenders looks at work done by the Forces in Mind Trust to deal with former services people who end up in custody

A veterans’ charity, the Forces in Mind Trust, has called for a better deal for ex-service personnel who come into contact with the criminal justice system. In a recent policy statement, the charity makes the point that although the majority of ex-Service personnel make a successful transition into civilian life and avoid any adverse contact with the Criminal Justice System, an unknown minority go on to offend after leaving the Armed Forces and this can have significant and negative consequences for themselves and their families.

The charity makes the point that it is far from clear how many ex-Service personnel end up in the CJS. According to official statistics, ex-Service personnel make up 3.9% of the custodial population in England and Wales and 3.1% of the custodial population in Scotland. However, conflicting research has estimated that the numbers could be as high as 17%.  The introduction in England and Wales in 2015 of a question asking individuals whether they had served in the Armed Forces when entering custody, was welcomed by the Trust who, nevertheless, point out its limitations. The data only takes into account those in particular areas of the Criminal Justice System such as prison or probation and the question “have you been a member of the armed services” relies on truthful self-reporting. It is not mandatory to answer the question, and it includes those who may have served in the military in countries outside the UK. The exact number of ex-Service personnel within the Criminal Justice System in the UK is therefore unknown.

Although every case is of course unique, the trust sets out three main categories of factors linked to offending for ex-Service personnel:

The transition process. Serving in the Armed Forces is believed to be a preventative factor to offending for some individuals, moving them away from adverse contact with the Criminal Justice System and significantly improving their life outcomes. Upon leaving the Armed Forces, Service leavers are entitled to support which aims to improve their outcomes in civilian life. The Ministry of Defence’s resettlement programme, for example, has the primary aim of enabling Service leavers to move into civilian employment, which is thought to be a key preventative factor against certain types of criminal activity. While most Service leavers make a successful transition, a minority will struggle, and the difficulties encountered during the transition process may contribute to an individual going on to offend. Service leavers can face a culture shock when transitioning to civilian life and can find it difficult to make the adjustment, with some reporting feelings of social isolation. They can feel a loss of status and responsibility and can find it difficult to ask for or seek help, or to share any emotional distress with other.

Factors relating to service. Very few Service leavers enter the Criminal Justice System directly after leaving the Armed Forces, and for the majority, there is a gap between discharge and adverse contact with the Criminal Justice System. It is therefore very difficult to find any direct link between serving in the Armed Forces and subsequent offending. Some studies have focused on the link between military service and future aggressive and/or violent behaviour. However, these studies also cite violence following military service as being associated with pre-enlistment factors such as pre-service anti-social behaviour and coming from areas of higher social deprivation and higher crime. One exception to this is having a combat role in service which was found to be associated with an increased risk of future violence, even after adjusting for pre-military offending behaviour.

Pre-service factors. Similar to the non-veteran population, veterans who commit crimes are predominately male, of low educational achievement and have often grown up in areas of low socio-economic status.

The Trust which, quite rightly, prides itself on basing all its work on the evidence base and which continues to commission substantial new research into veteran-related issues, also shares which offences ex-Service personnel are more or less likely to commit:

• Violent offences. Offences classed as violence against the person are the most prevalent type of offence for both veterans and non-veterans. However, a larger proportion of veterans than non-veterans are charged with this type of offence.
• Motoring offences. Veterans are more likely to be charged with motoring offences than non-veterans.
• Sex offences. Veterans are more likely to be charged with sex offences than non-veterans.
• Acquisitive offences. Veterans are less likely than non-veterans to be charged with acquisitive offences, such as theft, burglary and fraud.
• Non- interpersonal violence offences. Veterans are less likely than non-veterans to be charged with non-interpersonal violence, such as criminal damage and arson offences.

The Forces in Mind Trust recognise that significant progress has been made over the last five years in the support available for ex-Service personnel who end up in contact with the CJS but says more needs to be done.

In particular the Trust is calling for better identification of veterans in the criminal justice system, more understanding and awareness of their particular needs and mandatory Armed Forces awareness training for all staff across the CJS, based on an e-learning tool recently developed by the Probation Institute.