Background: Research has shown for some time that addressing criminogenic need is one of the crucial aspects of reducing reoffending in all types of offenders. Criminogenic need such as anger or inappropriate sexual interest is considered to be crucial in the commission of the offence. The aim of the present study is to investigate the extent to…

Background: Research into specific illnesses and the development of new treatments may only become possible as new technologies become available. When used for research, such technologies may best be described as "intrusive", in that they require a considerable willingness and commitment on the part of the participants. This has…

Background: For many adults with an intellectual disability (ID), mealtimes carry significant health risks. While research and allied clinical guidance has focused mainly on dysphagia, adults with a range of physical and behavioural difficulties require mealtime support to ensure safety and adequate nutrition. The extent of need for and nature of…

Background: In the UK those paid to support adults with intellectual disabilities must manage two potentially conflicting duties that are set out in policy documents as being vital to their role: protecting service users (their duty of care) and recognising service users' autonomy. This study focuses specifically on the support of people with the…

Background: In England and Wales, the "Mental Capacity Act 2005" (MCA) provides a new legal framework to regulate substitute decision-making relating to the welfare of adults who lack the capacity to make one or more autonomous decisions about their care and support. Any substitute decision made on behalf of an adult lacking capacity must be in…

Background: Recent research has suggested a specific impairment in frontal-lobe functioning in the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in people with Down's syndrome (DS), characterised by prominent changes in personality or behaviour. The aim of the current paper is to explore whether particular kinds of change (namely executive…

Background: International and UK legislation confirms and supports the right of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) to vote. It is widely accepted, although not previously empirically confirmed, that citizens with ID are under-represented at the polls. Method: To document the extent of their under-representation at the polls, the names and…

Background: This study is part of a larger UK-wide study investigating psychiatric illness in people with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), and describes the longitudinal aspect of psychiatric illness, in particular psychotic illness, and examines the use and role of psychotropic medication. Method: A total of 119 individuals with genetically confirmed…

Background: In England and Wales, if a person is thought to lack capacity to make a decision to undergo a sterilisation operation, a specific process occurs. A Judge sitting in the Family Division of the High Court receives evidence from relevant parties including psychiatric and gynaecological experts and subsequently decides on the lawfulness of…

Background: Research into the excessive eating behaviour associated with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) to date has focused on homeostatic and behavioural investigations. The aim of this study was to examine the role of the reward system in such eating behaviour, in terms of both the pattern of food preferences and the neural substrates of incentive…

Although there has been growing recognition of the importance of enabling people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to be more directly involved in managing their own financial affairs, so far, little is known about this aspect of their decision- making. Using vignettes and semi-structured interviews, the financial decision-making abilities of…

Among adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs), there is a need not only to assess financial decision-making capacity, but also to understand how it can be maximized. Although increased financial independence is a goal for many people, it is essential that individuals decision-making abilities are sufficient, and many factors may affect the…

Dementia because of Alzheimer's disease (AD) commonly affects older adults with Down's syndrome (DS). Methods are needed, with established concurrent and predictive validity, to facilitate the diagnostic assessment of dementia, when it is complicated by pre-existing intellectual disabilities (ID). We report on the reliability and validity of a…