Objective The risk for the development of severe behaviour problems by individuals with intellectual disability (ID) is a well‐known concern. However, there are currently no reliable instruments for assessing these behaviours in French. The Behaviour Problems Inventory – Short Form (BPI‐S) assesses these three types of behaviour in people with ID: self‐injurious behaviour (eight items), aggressive/destructive behaviours (10 items) and stereotypic behaviours (12 items). The purpose of this study was to conduct a psychometric study of a French version of the BPI‐S. Method Data were collected on 305 children, adolescents and young adults with ID 50 care workers in seven specialised institutions in France as informants. We examined the scale's factorial structure (using confirmatory factor analysis), internal consistency and inter‐rater reliability. We also established preliminary French norms. Results Our results show that the French BPI‐S has a factorial structure similar to that of the English version. It has good internal consistency. The internal consistency of the frequency ratings was 0.91 and 0.62 for the severity ratings. The BPI‐S has a good inter‐rater reliability with acceptable coefficients for the frequency ratings (Self Injurious Behaviour (SIB) = 0.81; Aggressive–Destructive behaviour = 0.66; Stereotyped behaviours = 0.75) and for the severity ratings (SIB = 0.92; Aggressive–Destructive behaviour = 0.54). The data also show that the frequency and severity of behaviours differ based on the level of ID. Conclusions The French version of the BPI‐S has good psychometric properties for assessing problem behaviours in children, adolescents and young adults. This scale can be used for research and clinical evaluation of disorders associated with ID.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of aggressive behaviour among children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) and to demonstrate a possible link with moral judgement. Design/methodology/approach This study was carried out using two scales on a sample of 60 young people with ID in specialized schools. The first scale was “Behavior Problems Inventory-Short Form” (Rojahn et al., 2012) used to assess the frequency of aggressive behaviour and the second involved several scenarios about social situations of aggressiveness to assess moral judgement. Findings The main findings indicate that children and adolescents with ID gave more importance to the factor “consequences” than to that of “intent”. Moreover, there was a link between moral judgement and aggressive behaviour. Indeed, aggressive people found it harder to take into account the other’s point of view. Regarding moral judgement, they gave greater importance to the “consequences” factor than non-aggressive people. Originality/value The study aimed to establish, for the first time, a link between aggressiveness and moral judgement (blame) in ID (Anderson, 1996). This study clearly provides useful information regarding public health for patients, professionals and families. The authors were able to measure a similar frequency of aggressive behaviour in both children and adolescents with ID. The authors also highlighted a link between these aggressive behaviours and moral judgement. This knowledge should enhance understanding of manifestations of aggressiveness in this population, and improve diagnostic assessment. It should also help define appropriate directions for educational interventions to prevent the onset of aggressive behaviour or delinquency.

This chapter presents research on moral judgment from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. First, the authors will present the contribution of Piaget and Kohlberg's work on moral development from childhood to adulthood as well as the work of Gilligan on moral orientation and the difference observed between men and women. Then, the authors will analyze underlying structures of moral judgment in the light of the Dual Process Theory with two systems: system 1: quick, deontological, emotional, intuitive, automatic, and system 2: slow, utilitarian, rational, controlled, involved in human reasoning. Finally, the model of Dual Process Theory will be confronted with data from moral judgment experiments, run on elderly adults with Alzheimer's disease, teenagers with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and children and teenagers with intellectual disability in order to understand how cognitive impairment affects the structures and components of moral judgment.

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