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People with learning disabilities in a low secure in-patient unit: comparison of offenders and non-offenders

Maudsley Centre for Behavioural Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry

Ailsa Russell, MSc, Kiriakos Xenitidis, MRCPsych, MD and Declan G. M. Murphy, MRCPsych

Maudsley Centre for Behavioural Disorders, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Correspondence: Suzie Reed, Research Nurse, Institute of Psychiatry, The David Goldberg Centre for Health Services Research, Section of Psychiatric Nursing, Box PO30, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. E-mail: S.Reed{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest The authors are or have been part of the clinical team at the specialist unit evaluated.

Background People with learning disability who exhibit challenging behaviour are frequently segregated from services and local teams are often reluctant to receive them back into their care. This situation is worse in those whose challenging behaviour includes a forensic history, but the difference between those labelled as challenging and those treated as offenders is not clear, and there is a lack of evidence about treatment effectiveness.

Aims To test between-group differences in aggression and treatment outcome in people with learning disability and challenging behaviour, with and without a forensic history.

Method Clinical records of 86 former in-patients (45 offenders and 41 non-offenders) of a specialist unit were compared on measures of behavioural disturbance and placement outcome.

Results People in the offenders group were significantly less likely to be aggressive to others and to use weapons, but significantly more likely to harm themselves compared with the non-offenders group. Both groups had a significant reduction in their challenging behaviour during admission, and there was no significant difference in treatment outcome.

Conclusions The negative reputation of people with learning disabilities who offend needs to be reconsidered.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Marshall, S. Reed, D. Murphy, K. Xenitidis, and A. Russell Violence and offending in people with learning disabilities * Authors' reply The British Journal of Psychiatry, September 1, 2005; 187(3): 290 - 290. [Full Text] [PDF]

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