No Evidence Adults With Autism Are More Vulnerable to Criminals, Study Finds

November 1, 2024

Are people with autism less able to "read" the nefarious intent of criminals, leaving them more vulnerable to scams or coercion into criminal activity?

It's been a common notion among trial lawyers, the Australian researchers behind a new report say, but it's not grounded in any real evidence.

"This perspective may not hold up under scrutiny and we found that, in general, autistic adults are no more vulnerable to becoming ensnared in criminal acts than non-autistic adults," said study co-author Neil Brewer, a professor of psychology at Flinders University in Adelaide.

“Moreover, the mindreading difficulties often considered inherently linked to autism are by no means ubiquitous in autistic adults," he added in a university news release.

Brewer and study co-author, graduate student Zoe Michael, published their findings recently in the journal Law and Human Behavior.

As Brewer noted, "it is not uncommon for defense lawyers, often supported by testimony from ‘expert’ witnesses, to argue that autistic adults have difficulty interpreting the intentions or reading the minds of others, rendering them vulnerable to being enticed into criminal activity."

“Such arguments reflect the widely-held perspective that difficulties reading others’ intentions, emotions and motivations are fundamental features of autism," he added in a university news release.

Testing out this theory, Brewer and Michael had 197 participants -- 102 adults with autism and 95 typical adults -- get involved in role-playing scenarios where, over time, it became subtly suggested that the person with whom they were interacting might be displaying signs of criminal intent.

At various points in the role-playing, the participants were asked how they might react to the unfolding situation. This gauged each person's ability to recognize and respond to suspicious actions from others, the Australian researchers explained.

“We found that, overall, both autistic and non-autistic adults responded in similar ways to suspicious behavior across various scenarios,” Brewer said. “Importantly, autistic adults did not show lower rates of suspicion or adaptive responses when compared to their non-autistic counterparts as the scenarios unfolded. Nor did they take longer to recognize the potentially problematic nature of the interaction.”

Brewer and Michael noted than anyone can exhibit weaknesses in "reading the minds of others" and spotting ill intent.

“Our findings indicate that the ability to understand others' perspectives and intentions -- and not the presence of an autism diagnosis -- was a critical factor influencing their vulnerability to crime,” Brewer said.

In other words, anyone's "spidey senses" can falter in the presence of a cunning individual, and an autism diagnosis typically has nothing to do with that.

Brewer and Michael did find a few outliers -- people with an autism diagnosis whose ability to mind read "was below that of any of the non-autistic sample," according to the news release.

They indeed might be more vulnerable to criminals, but an autism diagnosis per se should not be used as proof that a person was more easily misled.

“Thus, rather than defence lawyers and clinicians assuming, and arguing, that a diagnosis of autism automatically signals a particular vulnerability to being lured into crime, it is important to formally assess and demonstrate that a criminal suspect or defendant has significant mindreading difficulties that likely have rendered them vulnerable,” Brewer said.

More information

Find out more about autism at Autism Speaks.

SOURCE: Flinders University, news release, Oct. 29, 2024

Neurology Behavior Autism