A Systematic Review of Autistic People and the Criminal Justice System: An Update of King and Murphy (2014).
J Collins, K Horton, E Gale-St Ives and 2 others
PMID 35637365WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic people are not necessarily more likely to offend than non-autistic people, but they struggle to understand court proceedings.
Police often miss autism signs, and autistic individuals face high rates of victimisation and self-harm within the justice system.
Key findings
01Autistic adults had more difficulty understanding and following aspects of the trial process and proceedings, despite their prior experience of the courtroom process.
02None of the respondents indicated that the officer(s) were able to identify that the person with autism was vulnerable.
03The prevalence of self-harm in the autistic group was significantly higher than the non-autistic group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Most included studies used retrospective data from files or records rather than primary assessment. Samples were heavily biased toward males, with very little data on autistic females. Diagnosis methods varied significantly across studies, ranging from gold-standard clinical assessments to self-report or screening questionnaires. Many studies lacked matched control groups, making it difficult to determine if findings were unique to autism or common to the offender population. The review excluded studies focusing on treatment, limiting insights into intervention efficacy.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume autistic people are inherently more dangerous or prone to offending. The wide variation in prevalence rates is largely due to sampling bias, with higher rates found in forensic psychiatric units where individuals are already identified as having complex mental health needs. The evidence does not support a direct causal link between autism and criminality.