Intellectual disability rates among male prison inmates.

While only a small percentage of people with intellectual disabilities are responsible for criminal behaviors, the literature points to their overrepresentation in prisons, although not enough attention has been paid to intellectual disability data for inmates. We retrieved studies - in English, Spanish, Italian or French and indexed in Medline between 2000 and 2018 - that provided intellectual disability data for prisons collected by the administration of validated tests to male inmates. Identified were 13 studies involving more than 15,000 inmates referring to intellectual disability and borderline intellectual disability. The general findings of our review corroborate the overrepresentation of people with ID in prisons, although prevalence rates range widely, from as low as 1% to as high as 69.9% (p<0.000001), reflecting to differences in methodology, in local, social and cultural factors and in judicial procedures. Published studies clearly underline the overrepresentation of people with intellectual disabilities in prisons, differences between countries, the vulnerabilities of persons with intellectual disabilities and the need for proper assessment and management policies in prisons worldwide.

La discapacidad intelectual: criminalidad, evaluación y repercusión en el ámbito forense / Intellectual disability: criminality, assessment and forensic issues

La discapacidad intelectiva resulta del máximo interés en el ámbito forense. La presente revisión comprende la búsqueda electrónica de artículos en inglés o castellano registrados en la base de datos Medline con los términos FORENS* e INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY en el «Título» o «Resumen», hasta el 1 de enero de 2018, seleccionándose aquellos que abordaban cuestiones relativas a los antecedentes históricos y consideración jurídica, la criminalidad y tipología delictiva, la comorbilidad en sujetos que delinquen, los factores de riesgo y reincidencia y la evaluación forense, excluyendo los artículos sobre tratamiento o resultados del mismo. Se identificaron 80 artículos que cumplían criterios de inclusión, que subrayaban la consideración especial históricamente dispensada por la justicia a los sujetos afectos de discapacidad intelectiva, las elevadas tasas descritas en prisión, discuten su relación con la violencia, incluida la sexual, describen tasas elevadas de comorbilidad con otros trastornos psiquiátricos, con discrepancias respecto a los trastornos relacionados con tóxicos y, por último, repasan los factores de riesgo y la reincidencia en estos sujetos, así como los métodos de evaluación forense de la discapacidad. Asimismo, se explicitan las limitaciones de la bibliografía revisada especialmente en relación con los conceptos que definen la discapacidad intelectiva en investigación

Intellectual disability is of maximum interest in the forensic field. This review includes an electronic search of articles in English or Spanish registered in the Medline database with the terms FORENS* and INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY in the Title or Abstract, up until January 1, 2018, selecting those that addressed issues related to the condition's historical background and legal consideration, criminality and criminal typology, comorbidity in offenders, risk factors and recidivism, and forensic assessment, excluding articles on treatment or treatment outcomes. We identified 80 articles that fulfilled criteria for inclusion, which highlighted the special consideration historically given by the law to subjects affected by intellectual disability, their high rates of imprisonment, which discussed their relationship with violence, including sexual violence, which describe high rates of comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, with discrepancies regarding toxic-related disorders, and lastly which reviewed these subjects' risk factors and recidivism, as well as the forensic assessment methods. We also outline the limitations of the literature review, especially in relation to the research criteria that define intellectual disability

Sobre las medidas de seguridad en el nuevo proyecto de reforma del Código Penal / About the security measures for forensic patients in the new project to reform the Spanish Criminal Code

Se realiza una breve exposición y posterior análisis de las reformas profundas que recoge el nuevo Proyecto de Reforma del Código Penal en lo relativo a las medidas de seguridad, aprobado en la Mesa de la Cámara del Congreso de Diputados a fecha 4 de octubre del 2013. Este proyecto está pendiente de aprobación definitiva y de entrada en vigor en los próximos meses (AU)

We have conducted a review to analyze the impact of the new project to reform the Spanish Criminal Code drafted on October 4th 2013 concerning security measures, which is based on the assessment and treatment of forensic patients. This project could change the current law in the event it is ultimately approved (AU)