NCJ Number
176189
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Studies conducted in Australia on the relationship between intellectual disability and criminal victimization concluded that people's behavior rather than having a disability was the main factor in their likelihood of becoming victim of physical assault, sexual assault, or robbery.
Abstract
Mentally handicapped persons were found to be almost three times more likely than those without a disability to be victims of physical assault, sexual assault, and robbery. In addition, intellectually disabled persons who had become victims of crime scored significantly lower than the intellectually disabled nonvictims on measures of interpersonal competence. Thus, the main problem was how the person behaved and how that behavior might promote a reaction from an offender. The one characteristic that stood out was the demonstration of anger. Findings indicated the need for training in interpersonal competence and anger management and for criminal justice practitioners concerned with crime prevention to focus on further defining the full range of variables that contribute to vulnerability. 6 references