Identifying offenders with an intellectual disability in detention in The Netherlands

Abstract

Purpose – The Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency has commissioned a number of research projects on offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) in prison. A continuing problem has been that it is not known what the prevalence of ID in Dutch prisons is, and how to identify ID in individual detainees. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – With this in mind a screening instrument (screener for learning disabilities and intelligence (SCIL)) has been developed that screens for IQ < 85. This instrument has been piloted in four different penitentiary institutes. Findings – The papers briefly describes the results of the studies preceding the pilot before turning to the pilot itself. The pilot shed light on what considerations need to be taken into account when implement screening for ID in the current prison system, and on the potential added value for prison staff of knowing whether a detainee possibly has an ID. In addition, the pilot gave some insight into the characteristics of Dutch prisoners. Originality/value – The main conclusion is that the SCIL can be successfully implemented within these settings, provided that sufficient attention is being paid to the advance instructions to staff and to the introduction of the screening to the detainees.

A Blind Spot? Screening for Mild Intellectual Disability and Borderline Intellectual Functioning in Admitted Psychiatric Patients: Prevalence and Associations with Coercive Measures

“…With 19 or lower as cut-off score, the SCIL accurately classified 82% of people with MID/BIF. Similarly, about 9 out of 10 people without MID/BIF (89%) were correctly classified as having no MID/BIF [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Screening for intellectual disability in Dutch psychiatrically disturbed detainees: Assessing the psychometric properties of the Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disability (SCIL)

“…Because detainees with an intellectual disability tend to have a limited social network and experience problems in maintaining contact with their family, Kaal, Nijman, and Moonen (2015) (Wechsler, 2008), it can be assumed that item 6 of the SCIL will have a higher correlation with the WAIS-IV compared to the other items of the SCIL. Looking at the results, there is evidence that confirms this expectation.…”

“…When looking at item 4, the question arises whether the respondent should tell about his own potency to ask for help or the availability of his family to offer him help. MaybeKaal et al (2015) tried to merge both questions. This ambiguity can be explanatory for a reduced reliability.…”

Improving mental wellbeing of forensic psychiatric outpatients through the addition of an informal social network intervention to treatment as usual: a randomized controlled trial

“…Furthermore, the total score is also based on questions about the education level, use of intellectual disability services, reading behavior and the availability of family support. The SCIL demonstrated adequate sensitivity and specificity [105].…”

“…The Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disabilities (SCIL) is administered at baseline if official, recent information (not older than 2 years) about IQ levels of the patient is not available. The SCIL is a Dutch screening instrument that is validated and often used within similar populations to detect IQ levels under 85 [105]. The instrument consists of multiple assignments such as calculating, writing, reading, spelling, understanding of a proverb and drawing.…”