Dr Katie Maras and her colleagues are looking to find evidence-based ways to improve autistic people’s experiences in court. They will do this by looking at the challenges autistic people face in court, reviewing the effectiveness of special measures for autistic people, and creating guidance for professionals within the criminal justice system. Ultimately, this project will lead to better experiences for autistic people within the criminal justice system.



Why it matters

Autistic people report negative experiences with the criminal justice system and current practices are not well-adapted to support them in these settings.

Dr Katie Maras and her team’s previous research found that autistic people are some of the most vulnerable groups of people within the criminal justice system, and identified a need for police interviewing techniques to be adapted to accommodate the differences in how autistic people report and remember events.

Currently, there is very little research about autistic people’s experiences in court. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe this may be especially challenging for them, such as the sensory environment of the court and the stress of being cross-examined.

About the research

Special measures are measures put in place to protect witnesses who are vulnerable or might feel intimidated in court to give their best evidence. These could include asking people to give evidence from behind a screen, from a different location (not in court) or via a live link so they do not have to face the defendant.

This project will work with autistic people to:

  • Identify the issues they may face in court.
  • Test the usefulness of special measures for autistic people.
  • Create guidance for professionals to improve the experiences of neurodivergent people within the criminal justice system.

Find out more about the Measuring Special Measures project here.

How it's making more of a difference

Understanding and addressing the issues autistic people face in court could lead to interactions within the criminal justice system being less distressing for autistic people. The findings from this study may also be beneficial for people with ADHD, anxiety disorders and learning disabilities.

How we are involved

We are partnering on this project as it aligns with our 2030 Goals of support from day one, changing attitudes towards autistic people and making public spaces more accessible for autistic people.


As a partner, we are supporting with:

  • Connecting researchers to the autistic community via the Autistica Network to help shape the study and take part in research.
  • Raising awareness of the research, and promoting findings once the project is complete to our wider network, as well as sharing the findings with policymakers.

References

[1] Slavny-Cross et al., (2022) Autism and the criminal justice system: An analysis of 93 cases.

[2] Railing et al., (2020) A Scoping Review of Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Criminal Justice System.

[3] Debbaudt (2004) Beyond guilt or innocence. Leadership Perspectives in Developmental Disability.