Identifying offenders with an intellectual disability in detention in The Netherlands
| Pages | 94-101 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-04-2015-0008 |
| Published date | 09 June 2015 |
| Date | 09 June 2015 |
| Author | Hendrien L. Kaal,Henk L.I. Nijman,Xavier M.H. Moonen |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour |
Identifying offenders with an intellectual
disability in detention in The Netherlands
Hendrien L. Kaal, Henk L.I. Nijman and Xavier M.H. Moonen
Hendrien L. Kaal is Professor of
Applied Sciences at Social
Work and Applied Psychology,
Leiden University of Applied
Sciences, Leiden,
The Netherlands.
Professor Henk L.I. Nijman is
Head of Research at Altrecht
Aventurijn, Bilthoven,
The Netherlands.
Professor Xavier M.H. Moonen
is based at Graduate School
of Child Development and
Education, University of
Amsterdam, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
Abstract
Purpose –The Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency has commissioned a number of research projects on
offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) in prison. A continuing problem has been that it is not known what
the prevalence of ID in Dutch prisons is, and how to identify ID in individual detainees. The paper aims to
discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –With this in mind a screening instrument (screener for learning
disabilities and intelligence (SCIL)) has been developed that screens for IQo85. This instrument has been
piloted in four different penitentiary institutes.
Findings –The papers briefly describes the results of the studies preceding the pilot before turning to the
pilot itself. The pilot shed light on what considerations need to be taken into account when implement
screening for ID in the current prison system, and on the potential added value for prison staff of knowing
whether a detainee possibly has an ID. In addition, the pilot gave some insight into the characteristics of
Dutch prisoners.
Originality/value –The main conclusion is that the SCIL can be successfully implemented within these
settings, provided that sufficient attention is being paid to the advance instructions to staff and to the
introduction of the screening to the detainees.
Keywords Implementation, Screening, Intellectual disability, The Netherlands, Prison, Recognition
Paper type Research paper
Background
This paper describes a pilot study looking at the implementation of the validated Dutch screener
for learning disabilities and intelligence (SCIL) (Kaal et al., 2013) in the prison setting. Over the
past few years there has been a growing concern for offenders with an intellectual disability[1] (ID)
in the criminal justice system in the Netherlands. One of the specific areas of interest was that of
offenders with an ID in a so-called “penitentiary institution (PI)”(i.e. a prison and/or remand
centre). Signals from the field and international studies (e.g. Talbot, 2008) led to the supposition
that detainees with an ID experienced significantly more problems, and are more strongly
affected by these problems, than non-ID detainees. Also, there were signals that ID might be
more prevalent in detention than in the general population (e.g. Hayes et al., 2007; Mottram,
2007; Crocker et al., 2007). However, in the Netherlands not much empirical research had
been conducted in this area at the time. The few studies that had been carried out
contained significant substantive and methodological limitations, although they strengthened
the perception that the number of people with an ID in detention, especially in problematic
sub-populations, is somewhat higher than in the general population (e.g. Brand and
Van den Hurk, 2008; Koeter and Bakker, 2007).
In 2010 the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency wished to obtain an estimate of the prevalence
of ID in Dutch PIs. Due to the many methodological problems encountered during previous
Received 6 July 2015
Revised 6 September 2015
Accepted 8 September 2015
PAGE94
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JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
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VOL. 6 NO. 2 2015, pp.94-101, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824 DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-04-2015-0008
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