Experiences of Autistic Individuals in UK Prison-based Sexual Offending Interventions

Research indicates that autistic people are no more likely to engage in crime than neurotypical people. However, in the minority of autistic people that do engage in crime, evidence has suggested that sexual crime is one of the more common forms of offending committed by those individuals, increasing evidence suggests that autistic individuals have qualitatively different experiences of prison compared to other neurotypes. Despite this, limited research has investigated how prison-based rehabilitation is experienced by autistic individuals, and how best to work with those
individuals during offending behaviour interventions. The present study (i) explored how prison-based interventions to address sexual offending are experienced by autistic
individuals with sexual offence convictions and the staff who work with them, and (ii) identified the features of prison-based sexual offending interventions that can be
challenging or beneficial for autistic individuals with sexual convictions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the UK with 12 autistic men serving prison sentences for
sexual convictions, and 13 members of prison staff involved in prison-based rehabilitation of men with sexual convictions. This presentation will summarise the themes that were identified through a multi-perspective phenomenologically-informed thematic analysis of interviews. These themes highlight some of the key issues relating to the format and delivery of offending behaviour interventions, as well as the impact of the broader prison context on rehabilitation. Findings from this study have informed
practical recommendations for how best to work with autistic individuals with sexual offence convictions in prison-based interventions.