The NICJN
Over recent years people involved in the criminal justice system in every capacity have become increasingly aware of the large number of neurodivergent people drawn into the CJS and the lack of resources and support for most. The Neurodivergence in Criminal Justice Network (NICJN) is a newly established group of researchers, practitioners and community members interested in the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals drawn into the criminal justice system of England and Wales.
The NICJN says that ‘Neurodivergence’ is a term which commonly describes cognitive development which varies from the typical, related primarily to learning, attention, sensory processing, and mood regulation. Neurodivergent conditions include autism, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia among numerous others.
Individuals drawn into the criminal justice system (CJS) – as suspects, defendants, victims or witnesses – generally face significant challenges due to the stressful, complex and specialised nature of criminal proceedings. This is acute for vulnerable persons, including those with physical and mental health issues.
Due to the nature of neurodivergent conditions and the manner in which the CJS operates, engagement can be particularly challenging for neurodivergent individuals, with evidence suggesting that significant barriers to a positive and effective experience remain at all stages, including in policing, courts and prisons.
Scope
The NICJN brings together key voices in relation to neurodivergence and all stages of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.; including three main groups in particular:
- researchers (from varied disciplines including forensic science, psychology, and law)
- clinical, legal (e.g. police, lawyers, judiciary) and other relevant practitioners
- community members who are neurodivergent or have a personal connection to neurodivergent individuals with ‘lived experience’ of the CJS.
The network has two primary purposes:
- exchange: aid dialogue and knowledge exchange between the different but related communities above; provide a platform for these communities to share their work, interests, activities and voice
- connect: act as a ‘switchboard’ connecting the different communities/individuals; act as a ‘hub’ for knowledge and expertise, promoting access to literature, information, and specialist knowledge.
and four long term aims:
- embed research into practice: by enabling research, knowledge and lived experience to better penetrate criminal justice practice
- raise awareness: by providing access to different communities’ knowledge and experience, therefore more widely raising awareness and understanding
- promote reform: by pursuing positive changes through both exchange between the members of the network, and with relevant external groups (e.g. policymakers, parliamentarians, charities)
- advancing knowledge: through collaborative publication, presentation, evidence-gathering and bids for funding.
Resources
The NICJN is a fantastic, free-to-access resource which provides an accessible, ‘one-stop shop’ for identifying a variety of literature, reports, accounts, toolkits and other resources related to neurodivergence and criminal justice. The goal is for the collection to enable anyone to easily locate useful information and insight on this subject.
The collection is divided into sections for ease of use – it is, however, recognised that the distinctions are, to an extent, artificial; there is often overlap between issues for different neurodivergent conditions at different points of the criminal justice process. It is also important to note that the collection is a work in progress – both in terms of the resources listed and the sections included.
I have perused the collection and it is extremely helpfully organised. There are six main sections:
- Neurodivergence and the CJS
- Autism and the CJS
- ADHD and the CJS
- Dyslexia and the the CJS
- FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) and the CJS
- ABI/TBI (Acquired/Traumatic Brain Injury) and the CJS
Each section is divided further so that users of the resource can easily find their area of interest. For example, the ADHD section has sub-sections collating:
- General literature
- Police custody and interrogation,
- Custody, probation and rehabilitation and
- Courts
The collection is also open access – anyone can access and edit it (using Google Sheets); people are invited to add resources they think should be included.
The process of joining the network is straightforward, just navigate to the NICJN site, click on the Members tab and Subscribe to the mailing list. I hope you find it useful.
Many thanks to Nicole Renehan for telling me about the NICJN.
Thanks to Hiki App, the digital unifier for the Autistic and Neurodivergent community, for kind permission to use the header image in this post which was previously published on Unsplash.
5 responses
Hi great to see this resource. I am very concerned about the intersections of racism and ableism and wrote an article about our experience as a Black family when my son was excluded from school. Sadly he has become one of the many Black children who haa now experienced face the ‘school to prison pipeline’ as a result of being excluded from a school who refused to assess his needs as a undiagnosed autistic young man
Hi great to see this resource. I am very concerned about the intersections of racism and ableism and wrote an article about our experience as a Black family when my son was excluded from school. Sadly he has become one of the many Black children who haa now experienced the ‘school to prison pipeline’ as a result of being excluded from a school who refused to assess his needs as a undiagnosed autistic young man
Hi Olatunde, very sorry to hear of your family’s experience. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hi
I am a trained clinical psychologist and I am hoping to return to practice next year. I am interested in neurodiversity personally and professionally. I am currently wondering if I am dyspraxic as I am finding more manually based jobs harder, e.g. support work. I do not want to have an accident at work due to my physical weaknesses.
I meet most of the DSM IV criteria and I am looking into getting a private assessment. Please can you tell me whether you know if a person can receive PIP if they have dyspraxia?
Kind regards
Jen Brown
Hi, PIP is not based on your condition or diagnosis. It’s is based in how your health condition or disability affects you. So for example if your dyspraxia-no known as developmental Co ordination nation disorder, affects your daily life to a significant degree, then you may qualify for it. But just having a diagnosis itself is not an automatic award. Ylu ate assessed in daily living g activities such as cooking and preparing food, washing and dressing, eating and taking medication, managing your finances, and mobility activated whether these be phulysical difficulties with the actual act of walking or mental heath difficulties, learning disability or cognitive impairment, like not being able to plan and follow a route, or becoming psychologically overwhelmed being outside alone/in busy places etc.
The best thing to do it vsll the pip helpline, they will ask yku a few questions and if you could be eligible based on their initial assessment they will send ylu a form
Fill I the form and send it back. They will then make a descisjon on whether your disability impacts your life enough to qualify for an award.
As a personal opinion,I think, it is unlikely dypraxia alone will be agreed to have a severe enough affect on your day to day like to qualify, however, I do not know you personally nor do i know how your condition affects you, so that is purely my opinion based on my experience with the PIP process and neurodiversiry, and you should read nothing more into it than that. Call them up, request a form and take it from there. The benefits and work website is an excellent resource for all things disability & benefit related. If ylu choose to apply inwould highly recommend having a look through their guides and advice.