Critically evaluate the extent to which prisoners with learning disabilities are discriminated against in the criminal justice system( prison.) Free Essay Example, 3250 words

below the age of 18 years) are examined to be suffering from mental illness in terms of communication difficulties which are often attributed as a cause of learning disabilities. Similarly, almost 70% of the adult offenders are observed as facing problems due to learning disabilities which are recorded to be either a lifetime syndrome, or caused owing to alcohol and/or drug abuse (Talbot, 2012). According to UNODC (2009), â€Å"persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others† (pp. 43). Certainly, the qualities and uniqueness possessed by people with certain disabilities tend to present a significant challenge to the judiciary when dealing with legal issues where either the prisoner or the victim is examined to suffer from disabilities. According to Maguire & et. al. (2012), irrespective of the fact that offenders are suffering from any kind of disability or not they should be primarily considered as offenders or criminals, who are convicted for performing illegal acts. We will write a custom essay sample on Critically evaluate the extent to which prisoners with learning disabilities are discriminated against in the criminal justice system( prison.) or any topic specifica lly for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Thus, the consideration that the offender is suffering from learning disability should be a sole concern of ‘individual resolution’. Influenced by this particular phenomenon, the viewpoints often considered by various jurisdictions differ when treating prisoners with learning disabilities. Contextually, Maguire & et. al. (2012) argues that greater attention towards such psychological aspects is quite likely to lead to lacunas in the demanded appropriateness in the justice rendered. However, witnessing the jurisdiction practices in the practical scenario, criminology experts were able to observe a certain degree of confusion or rather ambiguity persisting among the concerned judiciaries when interpreting and implementing the policy measures for criminals with special needs (Stout & et. al. , 2008). Not only during the jurisdiction of the offenders with learning disabilities, but certain degree of challenges are also witnessed when treating the offenders in prison. As per the study of Talbot (2008), around 20% to 30% of the entire population in prison are examined to suffer from learning disabilities. The offenders are hereby observed to possess different types of learning disorders which are majorly categorised as Intelligence Quotient (IQ) related problems or as dyslexia. A similar picture was also observed in the context of Irish prison where around 28.8% of the entire population in prison were observed to suffer from learning disabilities (Murphy & et.