NCJ Number
119098
Date Published
1988
Length
8 pages
Annotation
If the principles of normalization, integration, and the least restrictive alternative are to be implemented in a realistic management plan for intellectually-disabled offenders, there must be a reorganization of existing priorities and resources.
Abstract
The key is in providing a range of options for sentencing or placement. This involves the use of small, flexible units or programs in prisons, community-based residential environments, or supervised community activities, all of which can make use of existing resources in health, education, employment, housing, and vocational training. The intellectually-disabled offenders constitute one of the potentially most fertile areas of rehabilitation. In most cases, the offense of the intellectually disabled offender is a violent offense unlikely to be repeated or the culmination of a series of nuisance actions. With such offenses, the opportunities for behavioral change are more promising than with offenders entrenched in criminal peer group involvement. Even if the cost-benefit advantages did not exist, society's concern for the humane management of intellectually-disabled offenders dictates a massive change in present systems, which seldom provide the management appropriate for encouraging the kinds of skills that would assist the intellectually-disabled person to live as a law-abiding citizen. 8 references.