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Referral patterns for offenders with intellectual disability: a 20-year study
- Authors:
- LINDSAY William, HAUT Fabian, STEPTOW Lesley
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (The), 22(4), August 2011, pp.513-517.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Following deinstitutionalisation, research has demonstrated that people with intellectual disability living in the community have had increased involvement with the criminal justice system. This study reports a 20-year review of the referral patterns of offenders with intellectual disability referred to a community forensic intellectual disability service. The participants consisted of 309 consecutive referrals from 1987-2008 to a community service for offenders with intellectual disability in Scotland. Three categories of referral were included: from the court, criminal justice, or probation service; from the community team, including community nurses and social workers; or from another source, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. The findings show significant increases across time periods in referrals from criminal justice services and significant decreases from community services. These results suggest changes in society whereby the courts are becoming more comfortable with defendants with intellectual disability and services more willing to involve the police when there are incidents of offending behaviour.