Policing in an Age of Austerity: A postcolonial perspective

Policing in an Age of Austerity uniquely examines the effects on one key public service: the state police of England and Wales. Focusing on the major cut-backs in its resources, both in material and in labour, it details the extent and effects of that drastic reduction in provision together with related matters in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This book also investigates the knock-on effect on other public agencies of diminished police contribution to public well-being.

The book argues that such a dramatic reduction in police services has occurred in an almost totally uncoordinated way, both between provincial police services, and also with regard to other public agencies. While there may have been marginal improvements in effectiveness in certain contexts, the British police have dramatically failed to seize the opportunity to modernize a police service that has never been reformed to suit modern exigencies since its date of origin in 1829. British policing remains a relic of the past despite the mythology by which it increasingly exports its practices and officers to (especially) transitional societies.

Operating at both historical and contemporary levels, this book furnishes a mine of current information. Critically, it also emphasizes the extent to which British policing has traditionally concentrated on the lowest socio-economic stratum of society, to the neglect of the policing of the more powerful. Policing in an Age of Austerity will be of interest to academics and professionals working in the fields of criminal justice, development studies, and transitional and conflicted societies, as well as those with an interest in the social schisms caused by the current financial crisis.

Providing psychological services for people with diabetes

Previous research and service development guidelines have highlighted the importance of psychological issues in diabetes care, and both people with diabetes and diabetes professionals recognise the need for specialist psychological input. This article outlines the development of a service delivery model for psychological services in diabetes care, based on a patient needs assessment and the advice of diabetes professionals. This involved an assessment of the psychological needs of people with diabetes within an urban Health Trust in Northern Ireland, and the collation of the views of local diabetes professionals. Questionnaires to assess for depression, anxiety, binge eating behaviour and diabetes-specific worries were completed by 300 people with diabetes. The participants were accessed through both primary and secondary care diabetes teams. As expected, a high level of psychological distress relative to population norms was illustrated by the patient needs assessment. Particularly high levels of binge eating behaviour were reported, and levels of distress were higher for community-managed patients than for hospital-managed patients. The diabetes professionals unanimously agreed that there is a need for specialist psychological input and contributed to the service delivery model which is outlined in this article.

Exploring the Views of Police Officers on the Use of Video Taped Evidence in Child Abuse Cases in Northern Ireland

This paper sets out to explore the views and attitudes of police officers in the Greater Belfast area, concerning the process and use of video taped interviews with child witnesses, subsequently used as court evidence in child abuse cases. The information was collected by means of a postal questionnaire, completed by police officers who had all experienced joint interviews with social workers of child witnesses. With the increased use of video evidence as an alternative to the distressing experience of a child appearing in court to give evidence, the research findings and conclusions provide clear messages about future developments both nationally and internationally.