Abstract
In this Chapter, we consider two approaches to criminal justice decisions by people with intellectual disabilities (ID). First, we discuss a status or ‘individual differences’ approach, which has been used to examine why some people with ID may be more likely than their peers, or their general population (GP) counterparts, to engage in illegal behaviour. We illustrate this approach with studies relating to moral and prosocial decision making. Second, we discuss a functional approach, which has been used in studies that seek to examine the process through which some people with ID become convicted offenders. This approach is illustrated through examples of studies relating to understanding of the Miranda rights (USA) or caution (England and Wales), to appreciation of the significance of decisions made during police interviewing and at court, and to understanding of the terminology, actors, and proceedings of magistrates’ (lower) courts in England and Wales. Throughout, practical implications of the findings of each study are highlighted. We conclude by drawing attention to some of the methodological problems that currently limit the progress of research relating to criminal justice decisions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
Appelbaum, P. S., & Grisso, T. (1988). Assessing patients’ capacities to consent to treatment. The New England Journal of Medicine, 319, 1635–1638.
Appelbaum, P. S., & Grisso, T. (1995). The MacArthur Treatment Competence Study - I: Mental illness and competence to consent to treatment. Law and Human Behavior, 19, 105–126.
Beccaria, C., & Caso, A. (2013). On crimes and punishments. Branden Books.
Beirne, P. (1993). Inventing criminology: Essays on the rise of “Homo Criminalis”. State University of New York.
Bentham, J. (2017). An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. Anados Books.
Bolton, C. S. (2006). Pro-social decision making in men with learning disabilities. PhD Thesis. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
Clare, I. C. H. (2003). ‘Psychological vulnerabilities’ of adults with mild learning disabilities: Implications for suspects during police detention and interviewing. PhD Thesis. London: King’s College.
Clare, I. C. H., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (1991). Recall and understanding of the caution and rights in police detention among persons of average intellectual ability and persons with mild mental handicap. In Proceedings of the 1st Annual Conference of the Division of Criminological and Legal Psychology, 1, pp. 34–42. Leicester: British Psychological Society.
Clare, I. C. H., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (1992). Devising and piloting an experimental version of the “Notice to Detained Persons”. Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, Research Study No. 7. H.M.S.O.
Clare, I. C. H., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (1993). Interrogative suggestibility, confabulation, and acquiescence in people with mild learning disabilities (mental handicap): Implications for reliability during police interrogations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 295–301.
Clare, I. C. H., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (1995). The vulnerability of suspects with intellectual disabilities during police interviews: A review and experimental study of decision making. Mental Handicap Research (Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities), 8, 110–128.
Clare, I. C. H., Gudjonsson, G. H., & Harari, P. M. (1998). Understanding of the current police caution (England and Wales). Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 8, 323–329.
Cooke, D. J., & Philip, L. (1998). Comprehending the Scottish caution: Do offenders understand their right to remain silent? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 3, 13–27.
Crane, L., Maras, K., Hawken, T., Mulcahy, S., & Memon, A. (2016). Experiences of autism spectrum disorder and policing in England and Wales: Surveying Police and the Autism Community. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(6), 2028–2041.
Eisenberg, N., Carlo, G., Murphy, B., & Van Court, B. (1995). Prosocial Development in Late Adolescence: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 66(4), 1179–1197.
Eisenberg-Berg, N., & Hand, M. (1979). The relationship of preschoolers’ reasoning about prosocial moral conflicts to prosocial behavior. Child Development, 50, 356–363.
England & Wales in the Act not England and Wales Mental Capacity (England & Wales) 2005. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents.
Ericson, K. L., & Perlman, N. B. (2001). Knowledge of legal terminology and court proceedings in adults with developmental disabilities. Law and Human Behavior, 25(5), 529–545.
Farrington, D. P., & West, D. J. (1995). Effects of marriage, separation and children on offending by adult males. In Z. S. Blau & J. Hagan (Eds.), Current perspectives on aging and the life cycle (Vol. 4: Delinquency and disrepute in the life course, pp. 249–281). JAI Press.
Fenner, S., Gudjonsson, G. H., & Clare, I. C. H. (2002). Understanding of the current police caution (England and Wales) among suspects in police detention. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 12, 83–93.
Fulero, S. M., & Everington, C. (1995). Assessing competency to waive Miranda rights in defendants with mental retardation. Law and Human Behavior, 19, 533–543.
Garrigan, B., Adlam, A. L. R., & Langdon, P. E. (2018). Moral decision making and moral development: Toward an integrative framework. Developmental Review, 49, 80–100.
Gibbs, J. C. (2010). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman (2nd ed.). Sage.
Gibbs, J. C., Basinger, K. S., & Fuller, D. (1992). Moral maturity: Measuring the development of Sociomoral reflection. Erlbaum Associates.
Gibbs, J. C., Potter, G., & Goldstein, A. P. (1995). The EQUIP programme: Teaching youth to think and act responsibly through a peer-helping approach. Research Press.
Gibbs, J. C., Potter, G., Barriga, A. Q., & Liau, A. K. (1996). Developing the helping skills and prosocial motivation of aggressive adolescents in peer group programs. Aggression and Violent Behavior, I, 283–305.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women’s development. Harvard University Press.
Gottfredson, G. H., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press.
Grisso, T. (1981). Juveniles’ waiver of rights. Legal and psychosocial competence. Plenum Press.
Grisso, T. (1986). Evaluating competencies. Forensic assessments and instruments. Plenum Press.
Grisso, T. (2003). Evaluating competencies. Forensic assessments and instruments (2nd ed.). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Grisso, T., & Appelbaum, P. S. (1998). Assessing competence to consent to treatment: A guide for physicians and other health professionals. Oxford University Press.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1992). The psychology of interrogations, confessions and testimony. John Wiley.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (1994). Psychological vulnerability: Suspects at risk. In D. Morgan & G. Stephenson (Eds.), Suspicion and silence: The right to silence in criminal investigations. Blackstone Press.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2003). The psychology of interrogations and confessions. A handbook. John Wiley.
Gudjonsson, G. H., & Petursson, H. (1991). Custodial interrogation: Why do suspects confess and how does it relate to their crime, attitude and personality? Personality & Individual Differences, 12, 295–306.
Hannibal, M., & Mountford, L. (2013). Criminal litigation handbook. Oxford University Press.
Hilgendorf, E. L., & Irving, B. (1981). A decision making model of confessions. In S. M. A. Lloyd-Bostock (Ed.), Psychology in legal contexts. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hodgins, S. (1992). Mental disorder, intellectual deficiency and crime: Evidence from a birth cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 476–483.
Irving, B., & Hilgendorf, L. (1980). Police interrogation: The psychological approach. Research Studies No. 1. HMSO.
Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stag and sequence: The cognitive development approach to socialization. In D. A. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 347–480). Rand McNally.
Langdon, P. E., Clare, I. C. H., & Murphy, G. H. (2010a). Developing an understanding of the literature relating to the moral development of people with intellectual disabilities. Developmental Review, 112, 629–649.
Langdon, P. E., Murphy, G. H., Clare, I. C. H., & Palmer, E. (2010b). The psychometric properties of the Socio-Moral Reflection Measure – Short Form and the Moral Theme Inventory for men with and without intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31, 1204–1215.
Langdon, P. E., Clare, I. C. H., & Murphy, G. H. (2011a). Moral reasoning theory and illegal behaviour by adults with intellectual disabilities. Psychology, Crime & Law, 17, 101–115.
Langdon, P. E., Murphy, G. H., Clare, I. C. H., Steverson, T., & Palmer, E. J. (2011b). Relationships among moral reasoning, empathy, and distorted cognitions in men with intellectual disabilities and a history of criminal offending. American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 116, 438–456.
Langdon, P. E., Murphy, G. H., Clare, I. C. H., Palmer, E. J., & Rees, J. (2013). An evaluation of the EQUIP Treatment Programme with men who have intellectual or other developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 26, 167–180.
LaVigna, G. W., & Willis, T. J. (1995). A positive behavioural support model for breaking the barriers to social and community inclusion. Learning Disability Review, 10, 16–23.
Law Commission. (2016). Unfit to plead? Volumes 1 and 2. (Report no. 364). H.M.S.O. http://www.lawcom.gov.uk
Lindsay, W. R., & Dernevick, M. (2013). Risk and offenders with intellectual disabilities: Reappraising Hodgins (1991) classic study. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 23, 151–157.
Lindsay, W. R., & Taylor, J. L. (2018). Historical and theoretical approaches to offending in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In W. R. Lindsay & J. L. Taylor (Eds.), Offenders with intellectual and developmental disabilities (pp. 3–20). Wiley.
Maras, K., Mulcahy, S., Crane, L., Hawken, T., & Memon, A. (2018). Obtaining best evidence from the autistic interviewee: Police-reported challenges, legal requirements and psychological research-based recommendations. Investigative Interviewing: Research and Practice, 9, 52–60.
McCombie, A. J. L. (2017). Understanding magistrates’ courts: Implications for individuals with intellectual disabilities. PhD Thesis. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
McConville, M., & Hodgson, J. (1993). Custodial legal advice and the right to silence. The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice Research Study No. 16. HMSO.
McDermott, E., & Langdon, P. E. (2016). The moral reasoning abilities of men and women with intellectual disabilities who have a history of criminal offending behaviour. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 21(1), 25–40.
McLeod, R., Philpin, C., Sweeting, A., Joyce, L., & Evans, R. (2010). Court experience of adults with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and limited mental capacity. Report 3: At Court. Ministry of Justice.
Murphy, G., & Clare, I. C. H. (2003). Adults’ capacity to make legal decisions. In D. Carson & R. Bull (Eds.), Handbook of psychology in legal contexts (2nd ed.). Wiley.
Murphy, G., & Clare, I. C. H. (2012). Working with offenders or alleged offenders with intellectual disabilities. In E. Emerson, C. Hatton, K. Dickson, R. Gone, A. Caine, & J. Bromley (Eds.), Clinical psychology and people with intellectual disabilities (2nd. ed.). Wiley.
Murphy, G. H., & Mason, J. (2014). People with intellectual disabilities and offending behaviours. In E. Tsakanikos & J. McCarthy (Eds.), Handbook of psychopathology in intellectual disability. Springer Science.
Nicholas, S., Gray, N. S., & Snowden, R. J. (2018). In W. R. Lindsay & J. L. Taylor (Eds.), Offenders with intellectual and developmental disabilities (pp. 3–20). Wiley.
Noble, J. H., & Conley, J. W. (1992). Towards an epidemiology of relevant attributes. In R. W. Conley, R. Luckasson, & G. N. Bouthilet (Eds.), The criminal justice system and mental retardation (pp. 17–53). Paul H. Brookes.
Olley, M. C., & Ogloff, J. R. P. (1993). Competency to understand charter cautions: A preliminary investigation. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Montreal.
Palmer, E. J. (2003). Offending behaviour: Moral reasoning, criminal conduct and the rehabilitation of offenders. Willan Publishing.
Pearse, J., Gudjonsson, G. H., Clare, I. C. H., & Rutter, S. C. (1998). Police interviewing and psychological vulnerabilities: Predicting the likelihood of a confession. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 8, 1–21.
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgement of the child. Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Pojman, L. P. (2004). Introduction to philosophy: Classical and contemporary readings (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Potter, G. B., Gibbs, J. C., & Goldstein, A. P. (2001). The EQUIP implementation guide: Teaching youth to think and act responsibly through a peer-helping approach. Research Press.
Smetana, J. G. (2006). Social-cognitive domain theory: Consistencies and variations in children’s moral and social judgements. In M. Millen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral development (pp. 119–155). Laurence Erlbaum Associates.
Souza, K., & Kemp, V. (2009). Study of defendants in magistrates’ courts. Ministry of Justice.
Stams, G. J., Brugman, D., Dekovic, M., van Rosmalen, L., van der Laan, P., & Gibbs, J. C. (2006). The moral judgement of juvenile delinquents: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 697–713.
Talbot, J. (2008). No one knows: Report and final recommendations. Prisoners’ voices: Experiences of the criminal justice system by prisoners with learning difficulties and disabilities. Prison Reform Trust.
Turiel, E. (1983). The development of social knowledge: Morality and convention. Cambridge University Press.
Underwood, L., Forrester, A., Chaplin, E., & McCarthy, J. (2013). Prisoners with neurodevelopmental disorders. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour., 4(1/2), 17–23.
van Someren, M. W., Barnard, Y. F., & Sandberg, J. A. C. (1994). The think aloud method: A practical guide to modeling cognitive processes. Academic Press.
Walker, L. J. (1995). Sexism in Kohlberg’s moral psychology. In W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gerwirtz (Eds.), Moral development: An introduction (pp. 83–108). Allyn and Bacon.
Ward, T., & Brown, M. (2004). The good lives model and conceptual issues in offender rehabilitation. Psychology, Crime & Law, 10, 243–257.
Wechsler, D. (1981). Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised (WAIS-R). The Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (1999). Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence (WASI). Pearson Assessment.
Wechsler, D. (2011). Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence – 2nd edition (WAIS-II). NCS Pearson.
Wikström, P.-O. (2004). Crime as alternative: Towards a cross-level situational action theory of crime causation. In J. McCord (Ed.), Advances in Criminological Theory 13, Beyond empiricism: Institutions and intentions in the study of crime (pp. 1–37). Transaction.
Wikström, P.-O., & Treiber, K. (2007). The role of self-control in crime causation. European Journal of Criminology, 4(2), 237–264.
Winstanley, M., Webb, R. T., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2020). Developmental language disorders and risk of recidivism among young offenders, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13299
Woodbury-Smith, M. R., Clare, I. C. H., Holland, A. J., Kearns, A., Staufenberg, E., & Watson, P. (2005). A case-control study of offenders with high functioning autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 16, 747–763.
Woodbury-Smith, M. R., Clare, I. C. H., Holland, A. J., & Kearns, A. (2006). High functioning autistic spectrum disorders, offending and other law-breaking: Findings from a community sample. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 17, 108–120.
Woodbury-Smith, M. R., Clare, I. C. H., Holland, A. J., Watson, P., Bambrick, M., Kearns, A., & Staufenberg, E. (2010). Circumscribed interests and ‘offenders’ with autism spectrum disorders: A case-control study. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 21, 366–377.
World Health Organization. (1996). International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD-10). World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2018). International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD-11). World Health Organization. https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr Clare Bolton and Dr Andrew McCombie for permission to include data from their doctoral theses and for their comments on the text. We are also grateful to Dr Peter Langdon for information about his RCT of EQUIP.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Clare, I.C.H., Murphy, G.H. (2021). Criminal Justice Decisions and People with Intellectual Disabilities. In: Khemka, I., Hickson, L. (eds) Decision Making by Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Positive Psychology and Disability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74675-9_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74675-9_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-74674-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-74675-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)