Perceptions of Learning Disabilities in the Criminal Justice System

This project will investigate how the characteristics of learning disabled (LD) individuals are perceived by the general public and within the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Additionally, this project will investigate whether there are differences between the perceptions of an individual's behaviour dependent on the type of LD they are diagnosed with (e.g., differences between Autism Spectrum Disorder - ASD and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD) - this will address a gap in the current literature, which does not normally distinguish between different LDs.

Within the UK a jury system is used whereby the general public are randomly selected to be members of a jury. If the general public has negative perceptions or is unable to identify LD behaviour this could result in unjust sentencing lengths.

This project has critical implications for the CJS. Throughout the CJS the perception of an individual's behaviour will affect how they are interacted with and their future treatment. For example, if a custody officer was not informed of a potential LD it is likely they will misdiagnose the traits as being a mental health issue due to a lack of training on LD. As a result, the individual will likely receive ineffective and potentially damaging support.

This project aims to investigate the public perception of LD individuals, their ability to identify differences between LDs and the consequences of these perceptions in the wider context of the CJS, particularly in relation to the impression of deceit from the LD individual.