Prisoners with neurodevelopmental disorders
| Date | 01 January 2013 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-05-2013-0011 |
| Published date | 01 January 2013 |
| Pages | 17-23 |
| Author | Lisa Underwood,Andrew Forrester,Eddie Chaplin,Jane McCarthy |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
Prisoners with neurodevelopmental
disorders
Lisa Underwood, Andrew Forrester, Eddie Chaplin and Jane McCarthy
Lisa Underwood is a post-
doctoral research worker at the
Institute of Psychiatry, King’s
College London, London, UK.
Andrew Forrester is a
Consultant and Honorary
Senior Lecturer in Forensic
Psychiatry at the Institute of
Psychiatry, King’s College
London, London, UK and
South London & Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK.
Eddie Chaplin is a Visiting
Researcher at the Institute of
Psychiatry, King’s College
London, London, UK and
Research and Strategy Lead at
the South London & Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK.
Jane McCarthy, Institute of
Psychiatry, King’s College
London, London, UK and
Clinical Director at St Andrew’s
Healthcare, Mansfield, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence on providing services to people with
neurodevelopmental disorders in prisons, with a focus on those prisoners with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD).
Design/methodology/approach – Electronic databases were used to search for literature specifically
on ASD in prisons. The literature was supplemented with the authors’ experiences of carrying out
research on ASD in prison.
Findings – The searches only identified four articles and therefore the broader literature on people with
ASD and other developmental disorders was reviewed in relation to the prison context.
Originality/value – The paper highlights the current limited evidence base on prisoners with autism
spectrum disorders.
Keywords Intellectual disabilities, Prison, Autism spectrum disorder,Neurodevelopmental disorders,
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Paper type General review
Introduction
Disorders including intellectual/learning disability (ID), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are now grouped together in DSM-5 under
neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This will also be
adopted as an umbrella term in ICD-11; due in 2015 (Andrews et al., 2009). Currently,
individuals with these conditions are often missed or overlooked in terms of being supported
to access healthcare. This situation and the under-provision of services for these groups within
England and Wales exist in spite of a surge in relatively recent national policy and clinical
guidance (Ministry of Justice, 2009; Department of Health, 2001, 2009; National Institute for
Clinical Excellence, 2008, 2012). This under-provision sits within an understood international
context in which there is an excess of mental illness (Fazel and Seewald, 2012) and a high
prevalence of ID among prisoners (Fazel et al., 2008). This policy context has been
under-pinned by the concept of “equivalence of care” for prisoners (Wilson, 2004). Although,
as mental health in-reach services have been developed, the limitations of this concept have
become increasingly apparent (Exworthy et al., 2012) and wide variations in the provision of
services appear to be emerging (Forrester et al., 2013). Meanwhile, there is evidence that those
who present with specialist needs, including those with ID, ASD and ADHD, are under-served
by existing arrangements and could benefit from service enhancements across criminal
justice systems (Department of Health, 2009). Within this overall context of service change,
this paper offers a context to ND among prisoners before then giving an overview of the
evidence on ASD in prisons.
We would finally like to
acknowledge the support of
Profesor Declan Murphy (Institute
of Psychiatry,KCL), Professor Philip
Asherson (Institute of Psychiatry,
KCL), Dr Suzy Young (Institute of
Psychiatry, KCL), Richard Mills
(National Autistic Society), Hannah
Hayward (Institute of Psychiatry,
KCL) and Jessica Sabet (Institute of
Psychiatry,KCL) allmembers of the
London Prison study described in
this review which is funded by
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and
St Andrew’s Healthcare.
DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-05-2013-0011 VOL. 4 NO. 1/2 2013, pp. 17-23, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8824
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
PAGE 17
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