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Effective responses to offenders with intellectual disabilities: generalist and specialist services working together
- Authors:
- ELLEM Kathy, WILSON Jill, CHUI Wing Hong
- Journal article citation:
- Australian Social Work, 65(3), September 2012, pp.398-412.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The prison system can be particularly traumatising for people with intellectual disabilities, often involving victimisation, segregation, and isolation. Prevalence figures for prisoners with intellectual disabilities ranges from 2.6% to 39.6%. This paper reports on the life stories of 10 people with intellectual disabilities, who had been imprisoned in adult correctional facilities in Queensland. The life stories were gathered from a series of in-depth interviews conducted over a period of 12 months with ex-prisoners (7 men and 3 women) aged from 26-68 years at the time of the first interview. Supplementary data were also gathered from semistructured interviews with 6 practitioners from disability, mental health, and ex-prisoner services. The findings showed that the pathways taken by these 10 people into and out of prison were marked by significant abuse, neglect, and poverty. Significant disparity and disconnection was also displayed between the policies and service approaches, particularly between the disability, mental health, and correctional systems in Queensland. Based on these findings, a framework for practice, which spans both generic and specialist services, is suggested.