Active Listening: A Case Study
The constables failed to provide social services to Mr Moore as stipulated in the Missions and functions of NSWPF instead of arresting him for a minor offence (Police Act 1990, [NSW], s.6).
Cappellazo (2016) also suggests it is critical to understand the “severity of their mental illness, the type of mental illness, and whether they are in therapy or are medicated.” This was not addressed by the constables, where they immediately reacted with force by pushing Mr Moore to the wall, and hastily arresting him. Additionally, Cappellazo (2016) acknowledges police use of force in these situations to be a result of minimal training and can often lead to escalating the problem. It is important that any one experiencing mental issues is supported in …show more content…
Bradley Report (2009) enforces the necessity for effective communication between police and mentally ill consumers which can lead to disproportionate use of force and traumatic experience. The police in the scenario could have applied active listening skills, nonverbal communication and de-escalation strategies to effectively communicate and lay the ground work for eventual resolution of the crisis. Active listening is “giving one’s full concentration of what the person is saying and being able to communicate the information back to the person” (Compton & Kotwiki, 2007, p.168). As Compton and Kotwicki (2007) stated, mental illness can interfere with both ends of the communication chain; the sending and receiving of messages, which creates a barrier. Active listening enables the officers to refine the assessment of the situation, focus on the offender as opposed to the environment and provides information that lays the ground work for eventual resolution of the crisis. If the police officers applied active listening in the scenario, they would have recognised that Mr Moore was suffering from mental health issues, thus they should have applied due diligence in applying Section 22 of the MHA 2007 instead of using force for the minor
Cappellazo (2016) also suggests it is critical to understand the “severity of their mental illness, the type of mental illness, and whether they are in therapy or are medicated.” This was not addressed by the constables, where they immediately reacted with force by pushing Mr Moore to the wall, and hastily arresting him. Additionally, Cappellazo (2016) acknowledges police use of force in these situations to be a result of minimal training and can often lead to escalating the problem. It is important that any one experiencing mental issues is supported in …show more content…
Bradley Report (2009) enforces the necessity for effective communication between police and mentally ill consumers which can lead to disproportionate use of force and traumatic experience. The police in the scenario could have applied active listening skills, nonverbal communication and de-escalation strategies to effectively communicate and lay the ground work for eventual resolution of the crisis. Active listening is “giving one’s full concentration of what the person is saying and being able to communicate the information back to the person” (Compton & Kotwiki, 2007, p.168). As Compton and Kotwicki (2007) stated, mental illness can interfere with both ends of the communication chain; the sending and receiving of messages, which creates a barrier. Active listening enables the officers to refine the assessment of the situation, focus on the offender as opposed to the environment and provides information that lays the ground work for eventual resolution of the crisis. If the police officers applied active listening in the scenario, they would have recognised that Mr Moore was suffering from mental health issues, thus they should have applied due diligence in applying Section 22 of the MHA 2007 instead of using force for the minor