Victimization history in female forensic psychiatric patients with intellectual disabilities: Results from a Dutch multicenter comparative study.
Women with intellectual disability in forensic hospitals have triple the lifetime victimization rates, requiring trauma-informed and gender-responsive services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
de Vogel et al. (2022) looked at women with mild or borderline intellectual disability who were living in Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals. They compared how often these women had been hurt or abused in their lives with other groups of women.
The study used hospital records and surveys to count different types of victimization. This included physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse that happened over their whole lifetime.
What they found
The women with intellectual disability in forensic care had been victimized three times more often than comparison groups. This means they experienced much higher rates of abuse and violence throughout their lives.
The study showed these women carry a heavy burden of trauma that had never been properly counted before in forensic settings.
How this fits with other research
Reis et al. (2022) extends this finding by showing that even young girls with intellectual disability need better protection. They tested a sexual abuse prevention program for elementary-age girls. The girls learned the safety facts but could not use them when tested in real-life situations.
Peterson et al. (2021) offers a practical solution for adults. They used behavioral skills training to teach young adults with IDD a four-step script to recognize and respond to workplace victimization. Most participants maintained these skills two months later.
These studies together show a clear pattern: women and girls with intellectual disability face high victimization rates across all ages, but teaching specific response skills can help reduce future harm.
Why it matters
If you work with women who have intellectual disability, you need to screen for trauma history regardless of why they entered your services. The forensic hospital study proves these women are three times more likely to have extensive victimization backgrounds. Use this information to plan gender-responsive services that address both their disability support needs and trauma recovery. Consider implementing behavioral skills training programs like Peterson et al. (2021) to teach concrete response strategies for future safety.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Victimization is highly prevalent in individuals with mild intellectual disability (MID) or borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) and is an important risk factor for mental health problems and violent behavior. Not much is known, however, about victimization history in women with MID-BIF admitted to forensic mental health care. AIMS: The aim of this multicenter study is to gain insight into victimization histories and mental health problems of female forensic psychiatric patients with MID-BIF. METHODS: File data were analyzed of 126 women with MID-BIF who have been admitted to one of five Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals between 1990 and 2014 and compared to data of 76 female patients with average or above intellectual functioning and to a matched sample of 31 male patients with MID-BIF. RESULTS: All forensic patients had high rates of victimization, but women with MID-BIF showed an even higher prevalence of victimization during both childhood and adulthood and more complex psychopathology compared to female patients without MID-BIF. Compared to male forensic patients with MID-BIF, women with MID-BIF were more often victim of sexual abuse during childhood. During adulthood, the victimization rate in these women was more than three times higher than in men. CONCLUSIONS: Victimization is a salient factor in female forensic patients with MID-BIF and more gender-responsive trauma-focused treatment is needed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104179