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. 

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?

I have no criminal record and largely keep within the law. I'm surprise that you seem to think I'm prone to finding myself on the wrong side of the law? All the protests and political action I've joined in with have been within the law.

But me aside, I'm thinking here of people who are poorly parented and educated, who are excluded from school etc, where do they get their knowlege of the law from?

I was talking to a a friend with autism and ADHD some years ago about following rules, mostly social rules, he said he knew what a lot of them were, but didn't know why people followed them, the social blindness we have to things like shutting the door when we go to the toilet, it's nto like we dont' know what we go there to do? Where boundaries are, and why, especially why he was expected to respect the boundaries of others, but others had the right to disrespect his?

There are some laws I disagree with and will campaign to change, there are things in the way society deals with things that I will campaign to change and yes I will assault someone in self defence, but only in self defence or in defence of someone weaker than me, such an elderly or young person.

TheCatWoman said:

That assumes that people are literate enough know how and where to look,

In the eyes of the law the persons literacy is their own responsibility and ignorance is no excuse. The person can find out by asking.

Iain said:

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

It seems you are illustrating this point well - you seem to disagree with this rule of law and are thus more prone to find yourself on the wrong side of it at some point unwittingly through ignorance.

That assumes that people are literate enough know how and where to look, and I'm not talking about me now, or not me of the here and now anyway. 

That assumes that people are literate enough know how and where to look, and I'm not talking about me now, or not me of the here and now anyway. 

I have no criminal record and largely keep within the law. I'm surprise that you seem to think I'm prone to finding myself on the wrong side of the law? All the protests and political action I've joined in with have been within the law.

But me aside, I'm thinking here of people who are poorly parented and educated, who are excluded from school etc, where do they get their knowlege of the law from?

I was talking to a a friend with autism and ADHD some years ago about following rules, mostly social rules, he said he knew what a lot of them were, but didn't know why people followed them, the social blindness we have to things like shutting the door when we go to the toilet, it's nto like we dont' know what we go there to do? Where boundaries are, and why, especially why he was expected to respect the boundaries of others, but others had the right to disrespect his?

There are some laws I disagree with and will campaign to change, there are things in the way society deals with things that I will campaign to change and yes I will assault someone in self defence, but only in self defence or in defence of someone weaker than me, such an elderly or young person.

TheCatWoman said:

That assumes that people are literate enough know how and where to look,

In the eyes of the law the persons literacy is their own responsibility and ignorance is no excuse. The person can find out by asking.

Iain said:

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

It seems you are illustrating this point well - you seem to disagree with this rule of law and are thus more prone to find yourself on the wrong side of it at some point unwittingly through ignorance.