Exploring the victim offender overlap among people with an intellectual disability.
Sophie Anstis, Stuart D M Thomas
PMID 35158411WHAT IT FOUND
Victim-offenders were more likely to have dual disability and younger first police contact.
Violent and nonviolent crime showed overlap between victimisation and offending, but sexual crime did not. These findings suggest early intervention at first police contact may be critical.
Key findings
01Victim-offenders were significantly more likely to have dual disability (intellectual disability and mental illness) than those who were only victims, only offenders, or neither.
02There was a significant association between violent victimisation and violent offending, and between nonviolent nonsexual victimisation and offending, but no significant association was found for sexual crime.
03Among victim-offenders, age of first police contact was negatively correlated with the number of future victimisations and criminal charges, indicating earlier contact predicts more extensive justice involvement.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was drawn from people who had received restrictive interventions, meaning they likely have more complex needs than the general population of people with intellectual disability. Offending was defined by criminal charges rather than convictions, which may inflate offending rates as many are diverted from court. The study relied on official police and health records, which may underreport crime due to barriers in reporting, especially for sexual victimisation. The study did not track how victimisation and offending trajectories changed over time or the sequence of events.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that the lack of significant sexual victim-offender overlap means sexual crime is not an issue. The authors note that low base rates and barriers to reporting sexual incidents likely compromised the statistical power to detect this association.