Prisoners with neurodevelopmental disorders

The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence on providing services to people with neurodevelopmental disorders in prisons, with a focus on those prisoners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Electronic databases were used to search for literature specifically on ASD in prisons. The literature was supplemented with the authors’ experiences of carrying out research on ASD in prison.

The searches only identified four articles and therefore the broader literature on people with ASD and other developmental disorders was reviewed in relation to the prison context.

The paper highlights the current limited evidence base on prisoners with autism spectrum disorders.