A Systematic Review of Autistic People and the Criminal Justice System: An Update of King and Murphy (2014)

Collins, Josephine; Horton, K.; Ives, E. Gale-St.; Murphy, Glynis H.; Barnoux, Magali F.L.

doi:10.1007/s10803-022-05590-3

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Despite the extensive literature on autism, research exploring autism within the CJS is limited [15,16]. Barriers to completing high-quality research within the CJS include challenges in obtaining detailed developmental histories necessary for a comprehensive assessment, co-occurring conditions and differential diagnoses, and access to clinical populations in secure settings.…”

Section: Autism and The Legal Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and support of autistic individuals within the UK Criminal Justice System: a practical approach based upon professional consensus with input from lived experience

Woodhouse,

Hollingdale,

Davies

et al. 2024

BMC Med

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Background Autism spectrum disorder (hereafter referred to as autism) is characterised by difficulties with (i) social communication, social interaction, and (ii) restricted and repetitive interests and behaviours. Estimates of autism prevalence within the criminal justice system (CJS) vary considerably, but there is evidence to suggest that the condition can be missed or misidentified within this population. Autism has implications for an individual’s journey through the CJS, from police questioning and engagement in court proceedings through to risk assessment, formulation, therapeutic approaches, engagement with support services, and long-term social and legal outcomes. Methods This consensus based on professional opinion with input from lived experience aims to provide general principles for consideration by United Kingdom (UK) CJS personnel when working with autistic individuals, focusing on autistic offenders and those suspected of offences. Principles may be transferable to countries beyond the UK. Multidisciplinary professionals and two service users were approached for their input to address the effective identification and support strategies for autistic individuals within the CJS. Results The authors provide a consensus statement including recommendations on the general principles of effective identification, and support strategies for autistic individuals across different levels of the CJS. Conclusion Greater attention needs to be given to this population as they navigate the CJS.

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Section: Autism and The Legal Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and support of autistic individuals within the UK Criminal Justice System: a practical approach based upon professional consensus with input from lived experience

Woodhouse,

Hollingdale,

Davies

et al. 2024

BMC Med

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“…Whilst the link between psychopathy and criminality is well evidenced (11), the relationship between autism and criminality is less clear. Collins et al (12) reported that criminality rates amongst those with autism ranged from 0.2% (13) to 62.8% (14) within their systematic review, indicating an overrepresentation of autism amongst offenders. Despite this, the review suggested that there is little evidence that autistic individuals have an increased risk of committing crimes, highlighting methodological limitations which impacted the reliability of conclusions.…”

Section: Introduction 1autism Psychopathy and Criminalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between psychopathy and autism: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Maguire,

Warman,

Blumenfeld

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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Background and methodsThe aim of this systematic review was to synthesise research examining the relationship between autism and psychopathy to: (a) better understand the relationship between these two constructs, and (b) describe the clinical manifestation of the two when they co-occur. A systematic search of the literature returned 36 studies.ResultsAcross all ages, autistic individuals and those with elevated autistic traits but no autistic diagnoses appeared to have increased callous and unemotional traits or psychopathy relative to the general population. Several studies evidenced that although both constructs are associated with empathetic dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms differ. In adults, psychopathy/psychopathic traits were associated with diminished affective empathy and intact cognitive empathy, whilst the opposite was seen autistic adults and those with elevated autistic traits. In children, those with autistic traits or a diagnosis of autism had diminished cognitive empathy, but not affective empathy, while the relationship between callous and unemotional traits/psychopathy and empathy amongst children was less clear. The co-occurrence of autism and psychopathy was seen to lead to additional empathic and cognitive impairment, but findings were mixed making it challenging to clearly describe the clinical manifestation.ConclusionThere remains a paucity of research investigating the interaction between autism and psychopathy and included studies were characterised by multiple measurement difficulties. Attention should be directed toward developing better methods for identifying psychopathic traits in autistic individuals to advance our understanding of the relationship between autism and psychopathy to allow for the development of appropriate care pathways for this population.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=413672, identifier CRD42023413672.

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“…Article 13 of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities ( 10 ) guarantees access to justice in the context of disability as a human right and lays concrete and binding duties on state parties. Most jurisdictions regulate parts of the CJS (i.e., from police proceedings up to convictions and sentencing) for vulnerable defendants like individuals with ASD ( 3 , 11 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are more often males, of which many also meet criteria for ADHD, show early life signs of conduct problems, and suffer from substance abuse to a greater extent compared to non-criminal individuals ( 12 , 13 ). Furthermore, offenders with ASD seem to be defined by more co-occurring psychiatric pathology ( 1 ), a delayed diagnosis of ASD ( 2 ), and experiences of victimization and social isolation ( 3 ), compared to individuals with ASD in general. These individuals commit various offenses, but there appears to be a high proportion of violent offenses, particularly arson and sexual offenses ( 14 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Judging from population-based studies persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) appear as no more or less likely to come into contact with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) as compared to non-autistic people (1)(2)(3). This contrasts with another strand of research showing individuals with ASD to be clearly overrepresented in some parts of the CJS, in particular, prison and forensic psychiatric settings (4), though the field struggles with poor study quality, and small and biased samples (5).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autism Spectrum Disorders in forensic psychiatric investigations–patterns of comorbidity and criminality

Hofvander,

Nilsson,

Ståhlberg

et al. 2023

Front. Psychiatry

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BackgroundThere are contradictory research findings regarding whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are more or less likely to commit crimes. The aims of the current study were to: (1) Describe psychiatric and crime-related characteristics of a large group of offenders with ASD who had undergone a Forensic Psychiatric Investigation (FPI). (2) Identify clinical subgroups among this group of offenders. (3) Investigate associations between the identified clinical subgroups and (a) psychiatric comorbidity (b) types of crimes and (c) criminal responsibility.MethodsThe study cohort consists of all subjects (n = 831) who received an ASD-diagnosis at an FPI between 2002 and 2018 in Sweden. Descriptive and clinical, as well as crime related variables were obtained from the FPIs. Non-parametric (Pearson χ2, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U-test) inferential statistics were used for analyses of between-group differences and effect sizes were reported. A Latent Class Analysis was used to identify homogeneous subgroups (or classes) from categorical characteristics.ResultsThe cohort consisted of 708 men and 123 women, aged 18 to 74 yrs. Two-thirds (66.7%) of the cohort had at least one other psychiatric diagnosis, the most prevalent was substance use disorder (SUD). A severe mental disorder, equivalent to lack of criminal responsibility, was most often reported among offenders with a comorbid diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder. The most common type of crime was violent crime. Three person-oriented clinical subgroups were identified; (1) ASD with few other diagnoses; (2) ASD and very high levels of SUDs, plus moderate levels of other externalizing disorders and psychotic psychopathology and (3) ASD and moderate to high levels of personality disorders (other than ASPD) and SUDs.ConclusionOur results highlight the importance of all parts of the CJS to be prepared to handle offenders with ASD, often with high levels of additional psychiatric problems. Traditional approaches in treatment or other psychosocial interventions for ASD may need to be adapted to at least three general clinical profiles– one with mainly neurodevelopmental problems, one with a spectrum of externalizing problems and one with complex personality related difficulties.

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A Systematic Review of Autistic People and the Criminal Justice System: An Update of King and Murphy (2014)

Cited by 10 publications

References 89 publications

Identification and support of autistic individuals within the UK Criminal Justice System: a practical approach based upon professional consensus with input from lived experience

Identification and support of autistic individuals within the UK Criminal Justice System: a practical approach based upon professional consensus with input from lived experience

The relationship between psychopathy and autism: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Autism Spectrum Disorders in forensic psychiatric investigations–patterns of comorbidity and criminality

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