Understanding the Whole Person: A Report
This report is the first in a series of literature reviews bringing together research on the different journeys that many people navigate concurrently or consecutively. For those facing severe and multiple disadvantage, the norm is overlapping needs. Many people have to find their way out of a cycle of repeat contact with the criminal justice system, poor mental health, and substance misuse. Yet researchers from different backgrounds view people facing multiple needs through their particular disciplinary prisms, such as criminology, psychology, or homelessness.
Each of these offers vital but partial perspectives. Policy, too, is designed in silos, and support services are set up, evidenced and judged according to singular criteria. There are a number of themes – some common, some distinctive – that emerge across the three domains of criminology, mental health and substance misuse. These themes offer key areas to focus on when supporting people to overcome multiple problems.
We know that highly personalised journeys cannot be imposed through manufactured interventions or formal treatment. However, policy and service delivery can support these journeys, and this review highlights some key implications for these areas. These implications are wide ranging and there is no easy intervention to ‘fix’ problems of exclusion, dependency, and criminality. However, this review suggests that change is possible and there is a myriad of ways to support it.
