Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

320 A Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions
LEARNING DISABILITY AS A VULNERABILITY
The British Psychological Society (2001) has recently published a report from
the Working Group on Learning Disability. The report provides important
guidelines to clinical psychologists when assessing adults with learning disability
in mental health and legal contexts. The term ‘learning disability’ is the
current term used in the United Kingdom and it has replaced the term ‘mental
handicap’. In North America the term ‘mental retardation’ is in common usage.
Throughout this book I shall use the term ‘learning disability’, unless I am referring
to a specific legislation (e.g. Police and Criminal Evidence Act, PACE),
where the term ‘mental handicap’ is used.
There are three core criteria for defining learning disability.
� Significant impairment of intellectual functioning.
� Significant impairment of adaptive/social functioning.
� Age of onset before adulthood (i.e. before the age of 18).
According to the BPS Working Group, all three criteria must be present for
a diagnosis of learning disability to be made. Psychometric testing generally
forms the basis for determining intellectual functioning, although there is a
trend to move away from over-reliance on IQ scores and to take into consideration
the individual needs of the person and the kind of support required.
Adaptive or social functioning relates to the ability of the person to look after
his or her practical day-to-day needs (i.e. ‘personal life survival skills’) and to
adapt satisfactorily within the social community:
The individual requires significant assistance to provide for his/her own survival
(eating and drinking needs and to keep himself/herself clean, warm and clothed),
and/or with his/her social/community adaptation (e.g. social problem solving, and
social reasoning) (p. 6).
Social functioning is more difficult to assess objectively than intellectual skills.
It is usually measured by direct observation and/or by information gathered
from informants (e.g. a parent, a carer, a friend).
Learning disability is a developmental condition, due to either arrested or
incomplete development, and it is generally accepted that it should have been
evident prior to adulthood (i.e. before the age of 18 years). However, significant
impairments in intellectual and social functioning may arise in adulthood due
to cerebral trauma (e.g. head injury). This would normally be documented historically
(e.g. from the person’s medical records). Information about the early
educational problems would be evident from school reports, if they are available.
Irrespective of whether the impaired intellectual and social functioning
is due to developmental or acquired factors, both groups should be considered
to be psychologically vulnerable within the meaning of Section 77 of PACE and
its Codes of Practice. In other words, an appropriate adult would be required
in both instances.
Therefore, a proper definition of learning disability for legal and clinical purposes
needs to take into consideration the suspect’s social functioning as well