People with autism spectrum disorder in criminal justice and mental health systems: Improving recognition and developing preliminary guidelines for support

Background: People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have contact with the criminal justice system (CJS) as victims of crime, offenders, or because of misunderstandings in communication and behaviour. It is thought that... [ view full abstract ]

Background: People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have contact with the criminal justice system (CJS) as victims of crime, offenders, or because of misunderstandings in communication and behaviour. It is thought that ASD is over-represented and under-recognised in the CJS. Despite increasing ASD awareness, there is no tailored ASD training for criminal justice mental health service (CJMHS) staff. Interactions between the CJS and people with ASD may be unnecessarily distressing, unsuccessful and costly.

Objectives: To improve ASD recognition amongst mental health/CJS teams and, with the ASD community, to draft first guidelines for support of ASD people within the CJS.

Methods: An ASD CJS workshop included invited speakers and sessions to gather expert opinions. A focus-group gathered views of people with ASD with CJS experience and their families. Workshops and focus-groups were filmed. CJMHS staff were trained in ASD.

Results: Local ASD CJS guidelines and an ASD CJS film have been produced. CJMHS staff felt significantly more able to; 1) identify people with ASD 2) communicate with and safely manage people with ASD 3) understand mental-health difficulties that may contribute to CJS difficulties/misunderstandings 4) know pathways to access clinical care.

Conclusions: Brief training can raise awareness and improve management of people with ASD in the CJS. ASD CJS guidelines may enable people with ASD to be better understood and have their needs met. This, with better direction to appropriate care pathways, may result in significant cost savings to the individual and society.