How Features of Autism may Provide the Context of Vulnerability to Engage in Offending, and Recommendations for Improving Support for Individuals with Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition, which is characterised by varied differences in social communication and interaction, and restrictive or repetitive patterns of behaviour and/or thinking (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). Autistic individuals are no more likely to engage in offending than non-autistic peers, in fact, they are more often victims of crime (Collins et al., 2022; King & Murphy, 2014). However, in the small subset of autistic individuals who do commit crime, some offences are statistically more frequent such as sexual offences (Allely & Creaby-Attwood, 2016). We conducted qualitative research with practitioners to explore how the features of autism may provide the context of vulnerability to engage in sexual offending. We also explored areas to strengthen support for autistic people to prevent offending and re-offending.