PhD
Professional Doctorate
| Status | Current |
|---|---|
| Part Time | No |
| Years | 2023 - 2026 |
| Project Title | Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Fitness to Participate in the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales |
| Project Description | This research will be formed of four studies. The first study, a systematic scoping review, will explore the current literature and case law regarding FASD and the Criminal Justice System (CJS). The second study will investigate the knowledge of FASD within the legal profession, and identify any current training needs by qualitatively interviewing Solicitors and Barristers with experience in criminal representation. The third study will explore and identify the language and cognitive abilities needed to be fit to plead and the instruments required to test those abilities. Forensic Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists (experts) will be interviewed and asked to consider, with reference to the legal criteria identified by the courts, the abilities they consider a defendant needs to have to be fit to plead, stand trial, and effectively participate. The experts will also be asked to identify the psychometric instruments they would use to test the abilities they have ascertained. The fourth study will use the most prevalent psychometric instruments identified by the experts in the third study to test a group of adults diagnosed with FASD, or known to have prenatal alcohol exposure, and compare the results with a control group. A further Fitness to Plead Assessment Tool, comprised of a twenty minute filmed representation of Crown Court proceedings, and questions assessing court room knowledge and comprehension, will be employed and tested on both sample groups. The Fitness to Plead Assessment Tool has been constructed taking into account the Law Commission’s Draft Bill ‘Unfitness to Plead Volume 2’ (The Law Commission, 2016b) and the key traits to be measured in England and Wales, namely the ability to follow both the evidence and court proceedings. |
| Awarding Institution | The University of Salford |
| Director of Studies | Clare Allely |
| Second Supervisor | Alan Price |