'Psychological Vulnerabilities' of Adults with Mild Learning Disabilities: Implications for Suspects During Police Detention and Interrogation

Abstract

THESIS ABSTRACT The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and its accompanying guidelines introduced a special safeguard for ‘vulnerable’ suspects, such as adults with learning disabilities (sometimes known as ‘intellectual’ or ‘developmental’ disabilities), during police detention and interviewing. The stated reason for the introduction of this safeguard is that such persons may be ‘particularly prone in certain circumstances to provide information which is unreliable, misleading or self incriminating’ (Code C, Codes of Practice, Home Office, 1995) and that they are therefore ‘at risk’ of becoming involved in miscarriages of justice. However, no attempt has been made to specify why suspects with learning disabilities might be more ‘vulnerable’. Based on Gudjonsson’s (1992) influential concept of ‘psychological vulnerabilities’, a series of experimental studies, using a range of methodologies, examines three of the many factors which may contribute to the putative ‘vulnerability’ of people with learning disabilities. There are wide variations in the performance of the participants with learning disabilities (Full Scale IQ scores ≤ 75 and attending designated ‘learning disability’ services). Nevertheless, compared with their counterparts in the general population, they: