NCJ Number
88306
Date Published
1982
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Generally, mentally retarded offenders are not identified by the criminal justice system, and even when they are, their treatment is not related to their special needs; consequently, their tendency to conform to the prison subculture plunges them deeper into a criminal lifestyle.
Abstract
The retarded offender represents a disproportionate percentage of the incarcerated largely because they are not identified early in criminal justice processing to receive special treatment and legal representation that takes into account their mental handicap. The general statutory confusion between mental retardation and mental illness often means that when the mentally retarded offender is judged incompetent to stand trial, he/she is indefinitely committed to an institution, since the condition of retardation is irreversible. Probation is not likely because of the poor employment and social adaptation history of mentally retarded offenders. The retarded offender is generally a male, several years older than the average nonretarded inmate, and disproportionately likely to be from a minority group. The retarded offender is anxious to be accepted, clever in masking limitations, demanding of attention, and easily persuaded. These personality characteristics make them particularly susceptible to manipulation by other inmates and conformity to the prison subculture. Even when mentally retarded inmates are identified as such, they are usually segregated with special offenders whose problems are significantly different from their own and do not receive treatment. The need is for better training of criminal justice personnel so they can identify the retarded offender as well as the development of highly specialized programs tailored to the particular needs of the mentally retarded offender. Eighty-two notes are listed.