ERIC Number: EJ946772
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0936-2835
EISSN: N/A
Homicide Defendants with Intellectual Disabilities: Issues in Diagnosis in Capital Cases
Greenspan, Stephen
Exceptionality, v19 n4 p219-237 2011
This article explores the many issues involved in establishing the diagnosis of intellectual disability in a so-called Atkins (death penalty exemption) hearing. Among the issues addressed are the need to go beyond IQ scores in establishing intellectual deficits, the need to go beyond rating scores in establishing adaptive behavior deficits, the need to clarify the target age at which intellectual disability is to be established, and the need to expand the Atkins umbrella to include a broader universe of people with brain-based impairments of everyday judgment and functioning. The purpose of these improvements would be to base legal protections for impaired defendants more on actual social vulnerability and less on artificial and indirect statistical criteria.
Descriptors: Mental Retardation, Disability Identification, Adjustment (to Environment), Homicide, Crime, Intelligence Quotient, Behavior Problems, Age Differences, At Risk Persons, Legal Responsibility, Court Litigation, Stereotypes, Test Validity
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A