King's College London
have today published a report describing how younger members of the armed
forces returning from duty are more likely to commit violent offences than the
rest of the population. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21790348
Researchers analysed
data from nearly 14,000 UK service personnel who had served in wars in Iraq or
Afghanistan. They highlighted a
particular issue in younger men and those who had combat roles or who had experienced
a traumatic experience. The results in
the Lancet medical journal come 10 years after the start of the war in Iraq.
Prof Simon Wessely, from
King's College London said, "Those who are in combat roles are themselves
slightly different from those who are not."
"The military don't
select chess-playing choir boys. They select people who often come from
difficult and aggressive backgrounds and they're the ones who are most likely
to end up in the parts of the military that do the actual fighting".
All that said, the fact that the
MOD asked for the study and has now publicly acknowledged the problem is a
major step forward. Now we must all work
to address the needs.
In doing so, we must also
understand that for some the problems do not arise until many years after
leaving the service. This includes
increasing numbers of individuals self-harming and attempting / committing
suicide and sleeping rough on our streets and in our countryside. Evidence
shows that these mental health problems have existed for many years and can
evidenced following other conflicts such as Northern Ireland, Falklands War and
Bosnia.
Critically, once the individual has left the military the
problem relies on the NHS and the Voluntary sector picking up the pieces. Sadly,
until now, the reaction of society to these acts of violence has been to send
the individuals to prison; an act of retribution that is supposed to help
address their problems! I wonder if we
are now, at last, beginning to learn that this is not appropriate?
Unfortunately, too few
professionals understand the issues and how the military life has impacted upon
the individual's mind and the lives of their families. More awareness training is required. That said, clearly today's new is a good start
and we must now build upon it.
Here in Devon, 29 different
public, private and VCS organisations are developing a new project called the Veterans Change Partnership. The consortia intend to provide a programme
of coordinated rehabilitation post custody, and an alternative to custody as a
means of diverting veterans away from the justice system. It will include pre course motivation and
assessment sessions, an 11 week residential and positive experiential period of
personal development, skills training and therapy work, followed by peer
mentoring into accommodation and work. Efforts are currently being made to secure
start up and ongoing funding.
