Half of people recently arrested by Met police may have undiagnosed ADHD, study finds

Maybe they're being led into crime by "friends" who are really using them as fall guys and scape goats? We know how desperately we can feel the need to fit in is, if the only people who don't shun you are "criminals" then what do you do? How many people, especially the young and vulnerable, can make the sort of judgment calls not to get involved in low level criminality and anti-social behavious? I wonder how many young people who are marginalised already don't end up feeling they might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb? I know I did, if you're going to punished anyway you might as well make it worth your while.

I imagine it could be frustrating as a police officer, to have someone who's vulnerable, possibly clinically so, who dosen't have the capacity to see why what they're doing is wrong, or why they should trust you and the rest of society?

TheCatWoman said:

Maybe they're being led into crime by "friends" who are really using them as fall guys and scape goats?

There is another common pathway to autists being law breakers and that is them not agreeing with the rules.

I used to have a problem with some of my team who in retrospect I could see were autistic and they would refuse to follow rules that they thought were stupid. It could be work rules or laws - for example they would willingly pirate music because they said "I would never buy the album so the artist isn't losing out", ditto for films etc.

I suspect over time many of these people will fall foul of the law.

Likewise with the communication difficulties, I can see an autist with a strong opinion on a subject making a social media post that will have the plod at their door the next morning for daring to speak out against some group that has influence.

The shift from police action against violent criminals to softer targets like social media users means they are getting more "wins" and the stats look good. 

TheCatWoman said:

Maybe they're being led into crime by "friends" who are really using them as fall guys and scape goats?

There is another common pathway to autists being law breakers and that is them not agreeing with the rules.

I used to have a problem with some of my team who in retrospect I could see were autistic and they would refuse to follow rules that they thought were stupid. It could be work rules or laws - for example they would willingly pirate music because they said "I would never buy the album so the artist isn't losing out", ditto for films etc.

I suspect over time many of these people will fall foul of the law.

Likewise with the communication difficulties, I can see an autist with a strong opinion on a subject making a social media post that will have the plod at their door the next morning for daring to speak out against some group that has influence.

The shift from police action against violent criminals to softer targets like social media users means they are getting more "wins" and the stats look good. 

TheCatWoman said:

Maybe the only people who bother to explain "the rules" to us properly are those who are trying to persaude us to ignore them?

If you are referring to the law I have to disagree here. The law is easy to find thanks to sites like https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ where you can find everything in detail with a few clicks.

People typically learn about the law through osmosis - absorbing it through being told, reading about it in work / contracts / media and often through the details of anything they sign.

In legal cases, the standard is that ignorance of the law is no defence.

We have a responsibility to ourselves to be aware of the law because if we break it then we are to blame. If we let others lead us on with lies then we are to blame for not checking. If we are coerced then we are to blame for not saying no.

Some of the above may be mitigating circumstances but is no legal defence.

TheCatWoman said:

Many of us feel like we arrived on this planet without the instruction manual others (NT's) did

Then learn if it is important to you. If you cannot find the links you need then ask - we will help.

If you are happy to remain ignorant then it is through choice.

If you are referring to social rules (not law / formal rules) then much of the same is true. It is straightforward to learn these but it takes effort, and some people will not make that effort.

When we choose to try to work within the social rules then it is typically not our knowledge that lets us down but our mannerisms and behaviour, but that is a whole different kettle of fish.

TheCatWoman said:

What we hear less about and is rarely reported on as click bait, are the horrible nasty, awful things that people post on line, MP's and female MP's and journalists in particular are under threat from a constant stream of rape, torture and death threats

I'm sure there is as much click bait about the death threats as there is about the abuse of police power. I have witnessed the police over-reach so know it isn't urban legend. Politicians are much more likely to have the power of a press advisor to spin a threat into a story than some loner with an over active social media profile being led away in cuffs.

Maybe the only people who bother to explain "the rules" to us properly are those who are trying to persaude us to ignore them? I think a lot of people see big business as fair game, they make huge profits from their customers and many pay poorly. I'm not saying this is right by the way, just that its an argument that I've come across fairly oten.

Many of us feel like we arrived on this planet without the instruction manual others (NT's) did, if we ask questions about things we dont' understand we're often met with anger or blank incomprehension because many are not conciously aware of the rules, they are unconciously competant. Some of us are conciously competant, in that we have to spend a lot of time thinking about which rules apply where and when, some of us are conciously incompetant, we know we don't know and spend our time in a more or less constant state of anxiety worrying about getting it wrong. Then there are the unconciously incompetant who realy don't know that what they're doing is wrong, all they know is that they get punished. I've been in this position myself and it's horrible, I've been ostracised by people who refuse to believe that I really don't know what it is I've done thats so wrong and upsetting. I've been in the other states too, pretty much everyone will have to some extent or other.

I've been following stories about police prosecuting people for things they say and do online, as with many other things, it's click bait and we only hear about the cases where things seem to have gone wrong or the police have overstepped the mark. What we hear less about and is rarely reported on as click bait, are the horrible nasty, awful things that people post on line, MP's and female MP's and journalists in particular are under threat from a constant stream of rape, torture and death threats, to both them and their families, some even recieving threats that show pictures of their houses, children and childrens schools. When does this sort of thing become a credible threat? What are we as a society or the police supposed to do about malicious posts to individuals or groups?

Iain said:

The shift from police action against violent criminals to softer targets like social media users means they are getting more "wins" and the stats look good. 

Agree 100%

Feels like a lot of truth here.