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Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

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as inmates, probationers or parolees who are affected by FASD present a variety <strong>of</strong> behavioural,cognitive and other problems, as well as a set <strong>of</strong> behaviours that absent knowledge and trainingtend to trick or confuse corrections and social services staff and <strong>of</strong>ficers into making assumptionsabout that person’s ability to respond to commands or control requirements, all <strong>of</strong> which requireorganized and planned programs, handling and programming. These require education andtraining <strong>of</strong> corrections personnel, and policy direction and coordination. In addition, there is aneed for interaction with the Courts, and all justice system actors, to ensure that FASD is takeninto consideration throughout the process <strong>of</strong> the administration <strong>of</strong> justice.Future Possibilities: FASD and Therapeutic JusticeNeil C. Skinner, Provincial Court <strong>of</strong> Alberta, Canada (neil.skinner@albertacourts.ca)Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) presents significant cognitive disability, and relatedand co-morbid conditions and behaviours in those persons affected by it. These, and othersymptoms and characteristics result in real and unavoidable barriers to the ability <strong>of</strong> an affectedindividual to effectively interact with the justice system (and virtually all other institutionalsettings in modern society) such that recognition and a purposeful and integrated response arewarranted. In criminal justice the normal manner (and associated governing legal principles andpractice) through which accused persons are dealt with serves to exacerbate the circumstancesfaced by an accused person affected by FASD, and for convicted <strong>of</strong>fenders, particularly themanner in which those persons will respond to the Court and participate in the process. Theresult, without a new and targeted response, is inevitably problematic, for the individual and thecommunity. There is a solution however, which is founded on principles <strong>of</strong> therapeutic justice,and which is informed by a variety <strong>of</strong> established alternative court procedures, includingproblem-solving courts, therapeutic jurisprudence and non-adversarial justice.65. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Criminal JusticeGrowing <strong>International</strong> Awareness <strong>of</strong> FASD in Legal SettingsKathryn Kelly, <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Washington (faslaw@u.washington.edu)People with FASD vary in terms <strong>of</strong> the severity <strong>of</strong> their physical or cognitive symptoms, but theyall exhibit poor judgment, are impulsive and lack social skills. As a result, youth and adults withFASD are very likely to end up in jail or prison, for <strong>of</strong>fenses ranging from minor to the mostserious. Until recently, the majority <strong>of</strong> youth and adults with FASD went undiagnosed in thelegal system, but that is beginning to change. Several Bar associations in Canada, the US andelsewhere have passed, or are considering, policy statements regarding FASD <strong>of</strong>fenders, andlegal training programs on the topic have been proliferating. These developments are discussedat length in this presentation.162

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