Treatment of Violence and Aggression in Offenders with Developmental Disabilities

Historically, assumptions were made about a relationship between developmental disabilities and criminal offending behaviors. While some people with developmental disabilities, including people with intellectual disabilities, may commit crimes, there is no clear relationship between crime and developmental disabilities. For people with developmental disabilities who require interventions, there has been a marked increase in the development and use of psychological therapies to treat violence and aggression that would be considered criminal behavior; the evidence to support the use of many of these interventions remains weak, with the exception of anger management training. Further work is needed to develop robust, empirically validated interventions for both violence and aggression among people with developmental disabilities.