A comparison of the emotional and behavioural problems of intellectual disability offenders in medium and low security

Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour,Volume 7, Issue 3, September 2016. Purpose There are few reliable psychometric measures of the psychopathology of offenders with ID. However, previous research has indicated that the Emotional Problems Scale (EPS) is useful in identifying a range of treatment needs and in predicting risk to self and others. The current study aims to compare the severity of the emotional and behavioural problems of a small sample of offenders with ID in medium and low secure services, as assessed by EPS. Additionally, the data are tentatively compared with those reported in previous research to precipitate discussion regarding the changes in clinical populations in secure care over time. Design/methodology/approach The study collected demographic and EPS data for patients with ID (N=25) on medium secure and a low secure wards. Data were collected as part of routine clinical practice, with EPS forms being completed by nursing and other multi-disciplinary staff. Findings It was found that there was no statistically significant difference in EPS scores between medium and low secure patients with ID. We also highlight differences between the current sample and the normative data collected by previous research. Originality/value The data regarding the psychopathology of medium and low secure patients with ID provides insight into the ever changing resourcing needs and risk profiles of this complex patient group. In addition, there is ...
Source: Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour - Category: Criminology Source Type: research