People with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder “19 times more likely to be arrested”

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is caused by drinking during pregnancy, and affects numerous aspects of brain function, including executive function, memory, communication, cognition, focus and social skills. In the UK – which has the fourth-highest rate of alcohol consumption during pregnancy in the world. The University of Salford has the largest team researching this condition in Europe, the SalfordFASD team, led by Professor Penny Cook, Professor Clare Allely, and Prof Raja Mukherjee. Research by the SalfordFASD team has shown that the condition is prevalent, affecting up to 2.4 million people, or around nearly 3.6% of the UK population.

“Alcohol is of course socially acceptable,” says Dr. David Gilbert, University Fellow at the University of Salford and member of the SalfordFASD team, “and over the years, society really did not realise that consumption of alcohol and pregnancy was quite impactful in the sense that it could lead to irreversible damage to the brain of the developing baby.

“Here in the UK, we have the fourth highest rates of drinking in pregnancy compared to the rest of the world, and what that means is that we are dealing with a potentially high rate of FASD, which is a spectrum of conditions that are a direct consequence of the consumption of alcohol in pregnancy.

“As researchers in this field, we deal with the issue of stigma. There can be a lot of shame and a lot of blaming of mothers. However, sometimes people will get pregnant and not even know they are pregnant. They just continue their lives, socialising as normal,” Gilbert says. “No one sets out to intentionally harm their baby. People would have thought differently if they had been are aware of the harms of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.”

Especially for single parents and those with other young children who have limited access to support structures, “stress and a lot of pressure could lead to consumption of alcohol during pregnancy,” he adds.

Gilbert’s research focuses on “how these the impacts of FASD may lead to encounters with the justice system. From international evidence, we know that individuals with FASD are 19 times more likely to be arrested. They are 19 times more likely to encounter the justice system.

“During police interviews and justice system interrogations, this group of individuals could easily accept blame or liability for crimes they never committed because they have impaired executive function – ability to undertake goal-oriented behaviours – so they are unable to weigh the consequences of their actions and can become impulsive. We have a case study from New Zealand where a young man with FASD was jailed for 20 years because he confessed to a murder that he never committed due to this vulnerability.

“I’m engaging with the police to demonstrate how this condition can easily lead to false confessions, so there is a need for the modification of interview questions, such as avoiding leading questions. Individuals with FASD may also be very prone to repeat offending because that centre of executive function has been damaged, so with the Bury Probation Service in Greater Manchester, for the first time, I am trialling some screening tools whereby, as people come into probation, staff can identify suspected cases of FASD and manage the cases differently, leading to better outcomes.

“When I go in for training sessions with justice system professionals and I start describing FASD, you hear professionals saying, ‘Yes, that looks like somebody I’ve met. I know these characteristics. This looks like a case I’ve dealt with before.’ There is increasing awareness about conditions such as ADHD and autism and interventions for these conditions, but often, when staff are working with someone with FASD, they administer interventions designed for autistic people because they don’t know about FASD, but they realise that it’s not quite working. Something is not right.” Individuals with FASD, despite their weaknesses also possess unique strengths which professionals can leverage to administer useful interventions.

Gilbert emphasises that tackling the disproportionate link between FASD and the criminal justice system benefits not only those with FASD and their loved ones, but the entire nation. “It doesn’t benefit anyone to have miscarriages of justice. The main goal is to make society better and improve outcomes for everyone.”

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