Persons with intellectual disability in prison

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence with which individuals with intellectual disability are housed in jails and prisons.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> <jats:p>This was a literature review of individuals with intellectual disability who are in prison.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> <jats:p>Persons with intellectual disability are imprisoned approximately seven times more frequently than would be expected by their prevalence in the general population.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title> <jats:p>Factors likely to contribute to this overrepresentation are reviewed, including need for supports and acquiescence of people with intellectual disability.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title> <jats:p>People who have intellectual disability do not receive needed supports and services in prison.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Social implications</jats:title> <jats:p>Supports are needed to end this overreliance on prisons to support people who have intellectual disability.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> <jats:p>The paper highlights the magnitude by which imprisonment exceeds the level that would be expected from population prevalence alone. It highlights the problems associated with insufficient funding and supports.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Forensic psychiatric issues in intellectual disability

“…In addition, some courts allow discriminatory practices against disabled prisoners as long as the discriminatory policies serve legitimate penological interests (ACLU National Prison Project, 2005). These exceptions may contribute to individuals with ID to frequently not receive the needed supports and services in prison (Spreat, 2020).…”

Perhaps workforce equilibrium has been achieved: We just don’t like the outcome

“…These positions are typically referred to as Direct Support Professionals, although the terms Client Care Worker, Residential Counselor, and Aide are generally interchangeable. Numerous research and advocacy articles have highlighted the "workforce crisis" in the intellectual disability field (National Core Indicator Project, 2015;2016;2017;2018;2019;2020;2022); even the President's Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities (2012) declared the situation to be a crisis over 10 years ago. These staffing shortages negatively impact program quality and incur substantial expenses for both overtime and recruitment/training of replacement staff (Spreat, 2020).…”

“…Numerous research and advocacy articles have highlighted the "workforce crisis" in the intellectual disability field (National Core Indicator Project, 2015;2016;2017;2018;2019;2020;2022); even the President's Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities (2012) declared the situation to be a crisis over 10 years ago. These staffing shortages negatively impact program quality and incur substantial expenses for both overtime and recruitment/training of replacement staff (Spreat, 2020). Spreat (2021) has argued that the government's practice of setting prices to be paid for the provision on intellectual disability supports and services is at the root of the workforce crisis.…”