Abstract:
Research has demonstrated that autistic individuals have higher rates of police contact, however, research has seldom explored the fundamental reasons for these interactions and how this might vary across international contexts. To remedy this, the Global Autism and Criminal Justice Consortium created and disseminated the Global Criminal Justice Survey. Descriptive statistics of survey respondents with and without police contact were compared to glean differential characteristics. Frequency and type of recent police interactions (within the last 5 years) among autistic individuals were also examined to better contextualize the reasons that autistic individuals encounter police. Study findings indicated that across a global sample (i.e., North America, Scandinavia, Europe, and Oceania) nearly half of all autistic individuals had an interaction with police and that those with a history of police contact were usually older, had higher educational qualifications, and were more likely to have a co-occurring mental health or developmental disorder. Among types of interactions, noncriminal encounters, such as welfare checks, traffic incidents, wandering, and behaviors associated with autism, were most common, followed by autistic individuals alleging a crime was committed against them. These findings offer important directions for future research and for targeted policy responses that can address the unique needs of autistic individuals within the justice system.
摘要:
研究表明,自闭症患者与警察接触的比率更高,然而,研究很少探索这些相互作用的根本原因,以及这种相互作用在国际环境中的差异。为了补救这一点,全球自闭症和刑事司法联盟创建并传播了全球刑事司法调查。将有和没有警察接触的调查受访者的描述性统计数据与收集差异特征进行了比较。还研究了自闭症患者之间最近的警察互动(在过去5年内)的频率和类型,以更好地了解自闭症患者遇到警察的原因。研究结果表明,在全球样本中(即,北美,斯堪的纳维亚,欧洲,和大洋洲)近一半的自闭症患者与警察有互动,有警察接触史的人通常年龄较大,有较高的学历,并且更有可能同时患有心理健康或发育障碍。在互动的类型中,非犯罪的遭遇,比如福利支票,交通事故,徘徊,以及与自闭症相关的行为,是最常见的,紧随其后的是自闭症患者,他们声称对他们犯下了罪行。这些发现为未来的研究和有针对性的政策对策提供了重要的方向,这些对策可以解决司法系统中自闭症患者的独特需求。