Sexual and Nonsexual Offenders With Intellectual and Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Characteristics, Referral Patterns, and Outcome

• NCJ Number: 223439
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2004 Pages: 875-890
• Author(s): William R. Lindsay; Anne H.W. Smith; Jacqueline Law; Kathleen Quinn; Andrew Anderson; Astrid Smith; Ronald Allan
• Date Published: August 2004
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study compared men who committed sex offenses or sexually abusive incidents (n=106) with men who committed other types of offenses and serious incidents (n=78), using variables related to personal characteristics, referral sources, forensic data, and outcomes up to 7 years after referral.

Abstract

Both cohorts had an older average age than was previously reported in the literature for both nondisabled offenders and offenders with intellectual disability (ID), with average ages for the groups of 38.15 and 34.82, respectively. The cohort of sex offenders and abusers ("group 1") had an average IQ of 64.3 and the cohort of nonsexual offenders ("group 2") had an average IQ of 65.4. For group 1, 48 percent were referred from the court or offender services, 39 percent from community ID teams or community care assessment teams, and 13 percent from other sources. For group 2, 29 percent were referred from the court or offender services, 11 percent from community ID teams or community care assessment officers, and 60 percent were referred from other sources. For group 1, 32 percent were diagnosed as having a major mental illness, including psychosis, major depression, or bipolar mood disorder. For group 2, this figure was 33 percent. Every man in group 1 had committed a sex offense prior to referral, and 16 percent had committed an additional nonsexual offense. In group 2, all the men had been referred for committing a nonsexual offense; however, 9 percent had committed a previous sexual offense. Regarding forensic information, 44 percent of group-1 cases were followed through to a formal disposition. For group 2, this figure was only 29 percent. Dispositions to a high-security hospital or prison were similar for each group (9 percent and 8 percent). There was a higher rate of reoffending in the nonsexual cohort, which persisted up to 7 years. For reoffenders, there was a significant amount of harm reduction (offense severity) up to 7 years. 2 tables and 25 references