Does substance use predict contact with the criminal justice system for people with intellectual disabilities?
| Pages | 147-153 |
| Date | 08 September 2014 |
| Published date | 08 September 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-05-2014-0007 |
| Author | Eddie Chaplin,Ilias Partsenidis,Blessing Samuriwo,Lisa Underwood,Jane McCarthy |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour |
Does substance use predict contact with
the criminal justice system for people
with intellectual disabilities?
Eddie Chaplin, Ilias Partsenidis, Blessing Samuriwo, Lisa Underwood and Jane McCarthy
Dr Eddie Chaplin is a Research
and Strategy Lead, based at
South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK and King’sCollege
London, London, UK.
Dr Ilias Partsenidis is a
Consultant Psychiatrist in
Learning Disability, based at
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS
Foundation Trust, Derby, UK.
Blessing Samuriwo is based at
South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK.
Dr Lisa Underwood is a
Post-Doctoral Resarch Worker,
based at Forensic and
Neurodevelopmental
Sciences, Institute of
Psychiatry, King’s College
London, London, UK.
Dr Jane McCarthy is a
Consultant Psychiatrist, based
at East London NHS
Foundation Trust, London, UK
and King’s College London,
London, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how substances misuse impacts on exposure to the
criminal justice system for people with intellectual disabilities (ID).
Design/methodology/approach – An electronic case-register of mental health patients was used to
examine the clinical records of 411 patients with ID. w
2
analysis was performed to test the association
between variables and logistic regression to generate estimates for statistically significant association
variables.
Findings – Of 411 cases, 98 (23 per cent) of patient had a history of substance use,with affective disorders
strongly associated with alcohol misuse w
2
¼4.135, df ¼1(po0.042), similarly statistically significant
predictor for alcohol misuse OR: 1.7, 95 per cent CI (1.02-2.72) (po0.043). Patients with a history of
offending behaviour had three-folds higher risk to misuse drugs compared to those without a forensic
conviction OR: 3.17, 95 per cent CI (1.35-7.44) (po0.008). Those with a history of offending were more
likely to have had a history of substance use.
Originality/value – Substance use and its impact on offending by people with ID is still poorly understood.
This paper adds new information to this under researched area.
Keywords Personality disorder, Criminal justice system, Disposal, Substance use, Mental health,
Intellectual disability
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Substance use is estimated as an issue for up to half of offenders in UK forensic intellectual
disabilities (ID) services (Plant et al., 2011). This study explores the relationship between
alcohol and illicit substance use with involvement in the criminal justice system (CJS) for
adults with ID.
Background
The association between ID mental health and substance misuse is complex and reflects a wide
range of environmental, psychological, biological and socio-economic factors (Klimecki et al.,
1994; DOH, 2009; Drake and Wallach, 2008). The lifetime prevalence of illicit substance use is
36.4 per cent, in the general population (The NHS Information Centre, 2011), with 6,640 of
hospital admissions having a primary diagnosis of a drug-related mental health and behavioural
disorder. Although individuals with ID have higher rates of mental health problems than the
general population (Brunette et al., 2004; Cooper et al., 2007) it is estimated they have a lower
prevalence of substance misuse compared to both the general and psychiatric populations
(Taggart et al., 2006; Sturmey et al., 2003).
DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-05-2014-0007 VOL. 5 NO. 3 2014, pp. 147-153, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
PAGE 147
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