Interviewing adults with intellectual disabilities
| Published date | 24 March 2011 |
| Pages | 16-21 |
| Date | 24 March 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/amhid.2011.0108 |
| Author | Gisli Gudjonsson,Theresa Joyce |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care |
16 Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities Volume 5 Issue 2 March 2011 © Pier Professional Ltd
10.5042/amhid.2011.0108
PRACTICE
Introduction
People with intellectual disabi lities are recognise d as being at
a disadvant age when coming i nto contact with t he criminal
justice sys tem (Fulero & Eve rington, 2004; Murph y & Clare,
2009). Thei r disadvantage relat es to all compone nts of the
criminal ju stice system, includ ing police interview s, fitness
to plead and stand trial, competence to give evidence in
Court, and issues to do wi th criminal responsi bility and
sentencing. The focus in thi s paper is on p olice interviews
and the capacity of people with intellectual d isabilities to
give eviden ce in Court.
The police need to obtain accounts from witnes ses,
victims and suspects that ar e clear, coherent, complete
and reliabl e, and meet essen tial legal requireme nts. The
intellectual capacities required for police intervi ews and
giving evid ence in Court rel ate to understanding the nature
of the O ath (knowing the d ifference between te lling the
truth and telling a lie, k nowing the importanc e of telling
the truth in Court) and le gal rights (access to free legal
advice, rig ht to silence and that adverse infe rence can be
drawn from silence), being a ble to understand basic and
simple ques tions and provide comprehensible replies ,
and underst anding the implicati ons of their answ ers
(Gudjonsson, 2010). The essenti al components involv e the
person bein g able to communi cate effectively and reliably
(give accou nts of events and replies that are understood and
can be c onfidently depended on).
The aim of this paper is to consider the research
evidence on the relevant vul nerabilities and mos t effective
ways of interviewing people with intellectual di sabilities, and
to outline some practical gu idance on how tho se working
with people with intellectual disabilities can e nsure that they
enable them to give an ac count of the diffi culties they may
be experien cing.
Vulnerabilities and the competency
requirements of witnesses and suspects
‘Vulnerabilit ies’ are best cons trued as a ‘risk factor’, rather
than a d efinitive marker of mental incapacity or unreliability
(Gudjonsson, 2010), which rende rs:
a witness prone, in certain circumstances, to providing
information which is inaccurat e, unreliable or misleading
(Gudjonsson, 2006).
It will be argued that pe ople with intellectua l disabilities
have specif ic vulnerabilities arising out of the ir condition,
but these overlap to a ce rtain extent with those of people
Gisli H Gudjonsson
King’s College, London, UK
Theresa Joyce
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), UK
Abstract
People with intellectual disabilities commonly come into contact with the criminal justice system as victims, witnesses or suspects. Their
intellectual disabilities may make them disadvantaged in relation to all components of the criminal justice system, including police interviews,
fitness to plead and stand trial, capacity to give evidence in court, and issues to do with criminal responsibility and sentencing. The focus in
this paper is on police interviews and the capacity of adults with intellectual disabilities to give evidence in Court. Research into the types of
vulnerability seen by people interviewed by police have focused on interviewees’ understanding of the Oath and their legal rights, suggestibility,
acquiescence, compliance and perceptions of the consequences of making self-incriminating admissions. The essential components of
any interview and testifying in court require that the person can communicate effectively and give reliable answers and accounts of events.
Research into police interviews has highlighted the importance of taking into account the interviewee’s vulnerabilities and providing appropriate
support, and suggests a more humane approach to interviews and when vulnerable people testify in Court.
Key words
police interviews; intellectual disabilities; learning disability; capacity; vulnerabilities
Interviewing adults with intellectual disabilities
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