Trends and challenges in forensic research on offenders with intellectual disability

Abstract

Background: The Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability has a well-respected history of establishing the parameters and contributing to developments in the field of offenders with intellectual disability (ID).

Method: The field has seen a number of developments over the past 15 years, and this paper identifies several trends that have emerged in the research during this period, including work on prevalence of ID in prison populations, development of risk assessment, consideration of staff issues, developing the psychometrics of offence-specific assessments, evaluating treatment methods, and testing the underlying theoretical frameworks which attempt to account for offending.

Results and conclusions: We refer to a number of studies which have advanced these developments in the field and draw the reader's attention to the way in which papers in this special issue contribute to and further develop each of these research trends.