Elderly Sex Offenders in Social and Health Care

The Derwent Initiative (TDI), in correspondence with a number of local Social Services operating in the North East of England, identified possible and potential difficulties faced by elderly sex offenders in the social care system, particularly those experiencing mental health problems and learning disabilities. Partnering with the Community Safety Research Unit of Northumbria University, we produced a scoping report to examine the question of whether elderly sex offenders were accessing the support, care and health services to which they were entitled and, if not, what was preventing this.

The research identified the need for further work to develop understanding of the health and social care needs of elderly sex offenders, the provision of services for them and sex offender’s experiences of accessing and using these services. It identified a knowledge culture that is powered by the drive for risk management and which potentially prevents a developing understanding about sex offending.

First investigated in 2003, this issue was re-opened in 2014 in joint work with Age Concern UK, which resulted in a report and a conference.