Becoming cuckooed: conceptualising the relationship between disability, home takeovers and criminal exploitation

Macdonald, Stephen J.; Donovan, Catherine; Clayton, John; Husband, Marc

doi:10.1080/09687599.2022.2071680

Becoming cuckooed: conceptualising the relationship between disability, home takeovers and criminal exploitation

Macdonald, Stephen J.; Donovan, Catherine; Clayton, John; Husband, Marc

Authors

Professor Stephen Macdonald stephen.j.macdonald@durham.ac.uk
Professor in Social Work

Professor Catherine Donovan catherine.donovan@durham.ac.uk
Head Of Department

John Clayton

Marc Husband

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon whereby disabled people’s homes are being occupied (i.e. cuckooed) by local perpetrators and/or county lines organised criminal groups. This study employs a qualitative biographical methodology that collects data from disabled people who have been victimised this way and practitioners who have worked with them. The findings illustrate that social isolation, loneliness and a lack of community services can create a space where the exploitation of disabled people can flourish. We conclude by demonstrating that cuckooing predominantly occurs at a local level, perpetrated by local people, rather than by county lines organised criminal groups; that, in fact, local cuckooing can predate county lines takeovers.

Citation

Macdonald, S. J., Donovan, C., Clayton, J., & Husband, M. (2022). Becoming cuckooed: conceptualising the relationship between disability, home takeovers and criminal exploitation. Disability and Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2071680

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 22, 2022
Online Publication Date	May 4, 2022
Publication Date	May 4, 2022
Deposit Date	May 11, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Aug 24, 2022
Journal	Disability and Society
Print ISSN	0968-7599
Electronic ISSN	1360-0508
Publisher	Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2071680
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1207641

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.