Abstract
Mate crime is a specific subset of hate crime in which the perpetrator is known to the victim. The aim of the current study was to examine perceptions of friendship and the concept of mate crime in autistic adults. Five adults were interviewed about their experiences of social interactions, friendships and mate crime. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed three superordinate themes: (1). Perceptions and ‘learning the formula’ (2). Socialising… ‘It’s more complicated than that’, and (3). ‘Taking Advantage of You’. Themes highlight the importance of further research into positive and negative aspects of social relationships in autistic adults, and the need to challenge attitudes around disability and provide support to those who may be socially vulnerable.
Highlights
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with differences in the processing of social information (American Psychiatric Association 2013)
The majority of the participants were diagnosed in childhood, and their diagnosis impacted on how they viewed their interactions with peers as well as how they attempted to present themselves within social situations
The current study provides an initial exploration of potentially relevant issues to consider when examining positive and negative aspects of social relationships in autistic adults, but is by no means exhaustive
Summary
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with differences in the processing of social information (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Some autistic people can find it hard to interpret social information, when interacting with neurotypical (NT) individuals (Chambon et al 2017; Cole, Slocombe, and Barraclough 2018), which may leave an individual vulnerable to exploitation or harm (Portway and Johnson 2005). Mate crime is a subtype of hate crime in which the perpetrator is known to the victim (Thomas 2011). A report from the Wirral Autistic Society (2015) that surveyed autistic adults found that over 80% had been victim to behaviours linked to mate crime (Papadopoulos 2016). These data suggest that autistic adults may be disproportionately targeted by perpetrators
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