A survey of intellectual disabilities amongst men on remand in prison

Men detained in a South London prison on remand were screened for intellectual disabilities (mental handicap) over a three-month period. Of 157 men screened, 33 reported having intellectual disabilities. Twenty-one of these completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and were tested for IQ (on the WAIS-R), for reading and numeracy (on the British Ability Scales). An equal number of men were selected for the control group, on a 'next man in' basis, and they were assessed in an identical way. None of the index men had an IQ in the intellectual disabilities (mental handicap) range but the mean Verbal IQ, mean Full Scale IQ, mean reading age and mean numeracy age were all significantly lower in the index group than in the control group. Moreover, the index group had significantly higher scores on the GHQ and often had a recent history of mental illness or psychiatric hospital admission. It is concluded that men with intellectual disabilities were not over-represented in prison but that there were a number of men close to the disability range who were psychologically very vulnerable.