Equivalence, equality and equity for prisoners with a borderline intellectual disability: reflections from the UK

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, < a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/toc/jcrpp/2/3" > Volume 2, Issue 3 < /a > , September 2016. < br/ > Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the legislative and policy architecture governing the protection of individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) in the UK, and whether these protections extend to protect those with a borderline ID (BLID) in prison. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents policy and legislative analysis. Findings This paper argues that the legislative definitions of disability are broad and draw on a needs-based understanding of disability, meaning that those with a BLID – if they experience disability – should be included in these protections. But the clinical definitions of ID that guide access to support services tend to exclude those with a BLID. Notions of horizontal and vertical equity are invoked to examine the spirit of ‘equivalence’ captured in legi slative instruments, and how these filter into policy that may ultimately be discriminatory to those with a BLID. Research limitations/implications If the founding principle of equality legislation is equivalence, and an argument can be made that those with a BLID are protected from disability di scrimination, public authorities will need to reconcile their use of clinical diagnostic cut offs to justify service provision inside and outside of the prison estate. In essence they are faced with a choic...

Source: Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice - July 28, 2016 Category: Criminology Source Type: research