Crime, Dementia, and Caregivers: Keeping individuals with dementia out of the criminal justice system

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe care and management of justice‐involved persons living with dementia (PLWD) are understudied. Yet emerging data indicate that PLWD may experience symptoms and behaviors which may lead to encounters with the criminal justice system. Consistent with the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM), community and social resources may affect outcomes for justice‐involved PLWD, including formal and informal caregiver resources. This presentation aims to characterize the relevance of community and social resources for criminal justice system outcomes (e.g., risk of arrest, pre‐trial options, and sentencing alternatives for PLWD).MethodsSynthesis of two semi‐structured interview studies with stakeholders. Study 1: the “Caregiver Study” collected experiences/perspectives from caregivers of persons with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) on social and legal decision‐making. Study 2: the “Legal Stakeholder Study” collected experiences/perspectives from legal professionals on managingement of PLWD within the criminal justice system. Transcribed interviews were analyzed applying the Framework Method (an inductive review of transcripts to develop a singular codebook for both studies’ transcripts) before charting data for comparison between participants and studies. Data from both studies were used to uncover potential relationships between social and community resources and justice system outcomes for PLWD.ResultCaregiver Study: 13 caregivers. Caregivers reported caregiver burden, safety, and patient behaviors that could lead to encounters with law enforcement. Legal Stakeholder Study: 15 participants with a range of experience (5‐25 years). Participants reported the relevance of community and social resources at preventing arrest, pre‐trial release options, and sentencing alternatives. When these data are synthesized with caregivers’ experiences and perspectives the studies generated a fuller narrative of how PLWD experience criminal justice encounters.ConclusionData from the complimentary studies elucidate insight on the relevance of social and community resources for criminal justice related outcomes for PLWD. These data uncover potential relationships between family involvement, financial resources, access to public benefits, and community understanding of dementia as factors relevant to outcomes associated with justice‐involved and potentially justice involved PLWD. These data are consistent with the SIM. These data provide a foundation for research that harnesses the SIM to drive important policy and systemic changes to improve support for PLWD who are justice‐involved.