summary
background There is a high prevalence of borderline intellectual functioning in the pretrial reports on Antillean suspected offenders.
aim To describe the prevalence of borderline intellectual functioning and mental retardation in Antillean suspected offenders on the basis of iq-tests applied and reports on limitations in adaptive functioning of these ‘offenders’.
method A study was made of 249 psychological pre-trial reports of Antillean suspected offenders between 2003 and 2008 in one Dutch judicial district.
results Borderline intellectual functioning was ascertained in 91 reports (36.6%) and mental retardation in 26 reports (10.4%). The prevalence of borderline intellectual functioning was lowest when the git-2 was used (19.7%) and highest when the wisc-iii was used (47.8%). Limitations in adaptive functioning were not mentioned in any reports or questionnaires, although both these criteria are required to be met for a diagnosis of borderline intellectual functioning.
conclusion Pre-trial reports on Antillean suspected offenders need to state clearly whether these ‘offenders’ have exhibited limited adaptive functioning.