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Introduction
This paper offers an introduction to the recently recognised phenomenon of "mate crime" as it affects people with learning disabilities. It looks at how concerns arose, positions mate crime in relation to hate crime and other forms of abuse, considers what may make people with learning disabilities particularly susceptible, and proposes a provisional definition of "mate crime". The paper reviews the extant research literature on "disablist" hate crime to examine the extent to which so-called "mate crime" has been both explicitly and implicitly identified and analysed in the literature. The paper is intended as a precursor to a second paper which will detail a provisional typology of mate crime informed by the extant literature, detail practice issues and recommendations, and suggest areas for further research and development.
Steven Hoskin lived and died in St Austell, a small town in rural Cornwall, England. In 2006 Steven was abused, tortured and finally killed by people who he thought were his friends. Steven's case offers a good illustration of how so-called "mate crimes" can develop, and a stark example of where they can lead if unchecked. Steven wanted to be like anyone else. He wanted the acceptance, validation, pleasure and support that friendships can bring. His mother said, He was generous [...] he knew he had a learning disability [...] he tried to do as others do [...] he wanted friendships [...] (Flynn, 2007, p. 1).
The human need for friendships and what they can bring is easily exploited. As early as March 2004 it was noted in Steven's Care Plan that, "Steven has been befriended by an alcoholic [...] says she is girlfriend", and in a Housing Register Special Needs Form that "[He] is very vulnerable and is taken advantage of very easily" (Flynn, 2007, p. 14). Whilst the services that should have picked this up failed to do so, others did not. Shortly after moving into his own tenancy in St Austell Steven was targeted by Darren Stewart, well-known to a range of social and emergency services, and described in the Steven Hoskin Serious Case Review (2007) as "a master of interpersonal power [who] compelled the obedience of those weaker than himself" (p.20) and possessing "an uncanny gift for identifying those who were vulnerable and...