Intellectual disabilities among prisoners: prevalence and mental and physical health comorbidities.

BackgroundLimited evidence suggests that people with ID (ID) are overrepresented in prisons although prevalence rates of ID among prisoners vary significantly across studies, making it difficult to identify prevalence and assess existing need.MethodA systematic review of relevant literature was conducted, and results were organized and compared in relation to study aims, design, measures used to screen for ID, sample, limitations and key findings.ResultsExisting international data suggest a prevalence of prisoners with ID between 7 and 10%. Most frequent coexisting health issues among this population are hearing and vision impairments, obesity, diabetes and a range of mental health disorders, notably anxiety and personality and conduct disorders.ConclusionMore research is required on prevalence rates and associated comorbidities of ID within prison settings, taking into account the heterogeneity of the population with ID

The detection and policing of gun crime: challenges to the effective policing of gun crime in Europe

Despite a shared understanding across the European Union (EU) that access to firearms by the general public should be restricted, detailed legislation regarding the ownership, use and trade of firearms varies between EU member states. It is unclear, however, how such variations impact on the policing of gun-enabled crime. By using qualitative data generated from interviews with police, policy and decision makers from 13 European countries, we aim to determine how stakeholders perceive that national variations in firearms legislation affect the policing of gun-enabled crime within and across EU countries. Four main themes were identified from the qualitative data: disparities in legislation, disparities in the priority given and the resources allocated to investigations into gun-enabled crime, as well as interventions. Owing to the aforementioned disparities, cross-national investigations into incidents of gun crime are at risk of remaining impaired in their effectiveness. Therefore, more legislative coherency as well as sustainable long-term interventions will be needed to successfully reduce ownership and use of firearms in the criminal world. In this context, a departure from an exclusive use of an economic model of gun crime is recommended to allow for a better understanding of the dynamics of the black gun market