Gender, Ethnicity and Challenging Behaviour: a Literature Review and Exploratory Study

Abstract

Assessment, care management and service planning for people with challenging needs should be sensitive to gender and ethnicity for equitable and appropriate service provision. This paper explores the relevant literature to map and identify the issues, and profiles a exploratory study of special schools, adult residential services and community support teams, to identify the gender and ethnic characteristics of people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. The findings suggest that gender stereotypes contribute to the attribution of maladaptive behaviour in boys, significant in severe and moderate learning disabilities in schools. The findings on ethnicity are discussed with reference to staff training and the implications of providing gender‐sensitive and culturally appropriate service responses and support.