Autistic people are more vulnerable in the criminal justice system compared to non-autistic people. To help address this, Tiegan Blackhurst is exploring the differences between how autistic and non-autistic people display and detect dishonest behaviour and its applications within the criminal justice system.

This project has the potential to inform training for professionals within the criminal justice system and lead to fairer outcomes for autistic people within the criminal justice system.



Why it matters

Many non-autistic people could interpret things like a lack of eye contact, unusual speech patterns and fidgeting as signs of deception¹. These are also typical behaviours of some autistic people. This could lead to situations where autistic people are perceived to be lying when they are telling the truth. This can have life-changing consequences if an autistic person is a suspect or a key witness in a trial.

To add to this, autistic individuals may be more likely to struggle with detecting deception in others. This means autistic people may be less able to protect themselves from certain crimes, such as fraud, or may struggle to detect deception when on a jury.

Currently, people working within the criminal justice system do not receive enough training on neurodiversity, with some receiving none at all.

It’s crucial that we improve our understanding of how deception differs in autistic people compared to non-autistic people to improve outcomes for autistic people within the criminal justice system.

About the research

Tiegan Blackhurst is exploring the differences between how autistic and non-autistic people display, perceive and detect honest and dishonest behaviour. She also wants to know whether knowledge about an autism diagnosis may affect other people’s judgements about deception.

This research project will help provide professionals in the criminal justice system with a better understanding of autism and neurodivergence.

The project has three stages:

  • Study one: To compare lying frequency and behavioural or verbal cues to deception in autistic and non-autistic adults.
  • Study two: Assess whether there are differences in accuracy of how autistic and non-autistic people detect deception, and identify factors that can predict how well they do this.
  • Study three: Examine how being aware that someone is autistic can influence a non-autistic person’s accuracy in detecting deception.

Tiegan will work alongside autistic people throughout this project. They will use their lived experience to offer guidance, mitigate risks, and shape the direction of the work.

How it’s making more of a difference

Improving our understanding of how autistic people produce, detect and perceive deception could have life-changing consequences for autistic people within the criminal justice system. It could prevent autistic people from being wrongly incarcerated and help reduce the likelihood of them falling victim to certain crimes.

The project has the potential to inform training on neurodiversity for professionals in the criminal justice sector. This will ultimately lead to fairer trials of autistic people involved in the criminal justice system.

How we are involved

We are a partner on this project as it aligns with our 2030 Goals of changing public attitudes towards autistic people and making public spaces more accessible for autistic people.

As a partner, we are supporting this project by:

  • Offering expert guidance as part of the supervisory team.
  • Recruiting for advisory groups and study participants from the Autistica Network.
  • Amplifying the findings of the study, such as through our newsletter and on social media.

References