The objective was to delineate the prevalence of criminal behavior and school discipline in juvenile justice-involved youth (JJY) with autism. A sample of 143 JJY with autism was matched to comparison groups of JJY without a special education classification, JJY with learning disabilities, and JJY with other special educational needs (N = 572). Results showed that JJY with autism committed significantly fewer property crimes. With regard to school discipline, JJY with autism were least likely to receive policy violations, out-of-school suspensions, and in-school suspensions. Finally, regardless of special education classification, JJY who had a history of fighting in school were more likely to recidivate. Our results suggest that JJY with autism are not more likely to commit crimes compared to JJY without SEN.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2268-2280
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume49
Issue number6
Early online date7 Feb 2019
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

    Research areas

  • Autism, Crime, Discipline, Recidivism, School

    Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

ID: 49596242