Dorothy Griffiths

Trends and challenges in forensic research on offenders with intellectual disability

Abstract Background The Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability has a well‐respected history of establishing the parameters and contributing to developments in the field of offenders with intellectual disability (ID). Method The field has seen a number of developments over the past 15 years, and this paper identifies several trends that have emerged in the research during this period, including work on prevalence of ID in prison populations, development of risk assessment, consideration of staff issues, developing the psychometrics of offence‐specific assessments, evaluating treatment methods, and testing the underlying theoretical frameworks which attempt to account for offending. Results and Conclusions We refer to a number of studies which have advanced these developments in the field and draw the readers attention to the way in which papers in this special issue contribute to and further develop each of these research trends.

Health self-advocacy training for persons with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND People with intellectual disabilities (ID) have unequal access to health care. While systemic efforts are addressing health inequalities, there remains a need to demonstrate that persons with ID can increase their health self-advocacy skills. METHOD A randomised control design with up to 6-month follow-up was used to evaluate the 3Rs (Rights, Respect and Responsibility) health self-advocacy training program for persons with ID (n = 31). Training involved teaching participants to recognise and redress health rights violations in the context of respect and responsibility. Training materials included PowerPoint slides and interactive video scenarios illustrating health rights, respect and responsibility problem and non-problems. Two-hour training sessions were conducted twice a week in a group format where participants played a game and answered questions. RESULTS The health rights training group made significantly more correct responses on post training and follow-up tests than the control group. Training effects generalised to untrained scenarios and in situ health interviews. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that persons with ID can learn complex skills related to health self-advocacy. More research is needed to improve in situ generalisation.

Meta-analysis of deinstitutionalisation adaptive behaviour outcomes: Research and clinical implications

Abstract Background A meta-analysis examined the effects of deinstitutionalisation on adaptive behaviour outcomes in persons with intellectual disability. The need for an updated review in this area is reflected by recent policy shifts in community care practices and the international status of deinstitutionalisation efforts. Method Twenty-three studies were compared using standardised mean effect sizes across 5 demographic, 4 methodological, and 1 outcome variable. Results Moderate habilitative gains were found in 75% of adaptive behaviour domains. A weighted linear multiple regression revealed that larger effect sizes were significantly predicted by sample size and research design. Disability level also moderated the extent to which sample size affected the magnitude of effect sizes. Conclusions These results are discussed in relation to the implications they have for community services for persons with intellectual disability. The difficulties in accurately comparing studies with dissimilar procedures and contexts are also outlined.

Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Problematic Sexual Behaviors

Persons with intellectual disabilities who have been identified because they committed a sexual offense may have done so because of a sexual paraphilia. However, special consideration in assessment is required to determine whether the offense is caused by a paraphilia alone or whether other factors relating to the individuals intellectual disabilities may be especially significant. This article reviews some factors that have been identified as significant and provides an overview of treatment approaches from multiple perspectives.