Women and autism

Abstract

Autistic females who have offended represent an extreme intersection of under researched populations. While a developing body of evidence has focused on autistic females, including recognition, presentation, diagnosis, clinical characteristics and support needs, this has not been applied to female offenders. While there is a developing literature focused on autistic offenders, this has largely concentrated on males, and little is theoretically driven. There is limited evidence to guide prevalence estimates of autistic women within forensic settings, or their clinical characteristics. There are minimal descriptions of treatment and management programmes for this group, or studies describing their outcomes following involvement within the criminal justice system. This chapter reviews the available literature pertaining to the female autistic profile, the general female offender population and studies which have included female autistic offenders. A fictional case study is presented to illustrate key clinical and forensic issues. Practical suggestions for the management and treatment of female autistic offenders within forensic settings are provided, alongside recommendations for future research.