Identification of service development needs for incarcerated adults with autism spectrum disorders in an Australian prison system

• Date: 11 March 2019
• Pages: 24-36
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-11-2017-0051
• Published date: 11 March 2019
• Author: Claire Newman,Andrew Cashin,Iain Graham
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

Identification of service development

needs for incarcerated adults with

autism spectrum disorders in an

Australian prison system

Claire Newman, Andrew Cashin and Iain Graham

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify and deliberate the service development needs required

for the improvement of service provision for incarcerated adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in

NSW, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach –Consultation groups were conducted to bring together n ¼5 key

stakeholders from heath and correctional-based services in the prison system. A facilitated asynchronous

e-mail-based discussion occurred amongst group members between consultation group meetings.

Findings –Two main themes were identified: detecting persons with ASD and providing appropriate care.

Participants discussed current service gaps with regard to the identification of people with ASD at the point of

contact with the prison service, and the difficulties associated with diagnosing prisoners with ASD. The need for

effective alert systems to detect persons with A SD in custody was identified. The current absence of ASD-specific

support services in prison was highlighted, and recommendations for improvement suggested.

Practical implications –Current health and correctional-based service provision failed to adequately

support incarcerated adults with ASD. Improvements in prison-entry screening processes, alert systems and

diagnostic practices are required. Multidisciplinary collaboration between prison-based and external service

providers is required for the development of a model of care based on individualised case management to

adequately support incarcerated adults with ASD in prison.

Originality/value –Given the lack of reported service provision for incarcerated adults with ASD

internationally, other prison-based services are likely to experience similar service development needs and

see the relevance of the recommendations made directly from the study findings.

Keywords Asperger’s disorder, Autism, Autism spectrum disorder, Individual prison support plan, Prison

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairment

in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities

(American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is estimated that 0.5 per cent of the Australian

population have ASD (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). International prevalence estimates

of ASD in the general population range from 1.47 to 2.24 per cent (Centres for Disease Control

and Prevention, 2014; Zablotsky et al., 2015). This is a smaller range than prevalence estimates

of ASD found in offender populations, which is from 1.5 to 8 per cent (Scragg and Shah, 1994;

Hare et al., 1999; Siponmaa et al., 2001; Soderstrom et al., 2004; Enayati et al., 2008;

Kumagami and Matsuura, 2009; Mccarthy et al., 2015).

Research related to the prevalence of ASD in the mainstream prison population has not been

conducted.In New South Wales(NSW), Australia,a recent surveyof incarcerated adults(n¼1,132)

Received 2 November 2017

Revised 6 March 2018

24 April 2018

Accepted 24 April 2018

This study received funding from

the APEX Foundation PhD

research grant scheme. The

authors wish to thank Justice

Health and Forensic Mental Health

Network for their support in the

conduct of this research.

Claire Newman is based at

Practice Development Unit,

Justice Health and Forensic

Mental Health Network,

Malabar, Australia.

Andrew Cashin and

Iain Graham are both based

at the School of Health and

Human Sciences, Southern

Cross University,

Lismore, Australia.

PAG E 24

j

INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF PRISONER HEALTH

j

VOL. 15 NO. 1 2019, pp. 24-36, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200 DOI 10.1108/IJPH-11-2017-0051