A Rapid Review Informing About The Discrimination As Experienced By Neurodivergent Defendants

Abstract

Recognising discrimination against the legally insane has a long and ugly history, the mistreatment of neurodivergent citizens is alive and well today. Following on, this rapid review addresses the question of: in what ways is discrimination against neurodivergent defendants experienced? Content analysis was applied to 30 relevant papers identified obtained from purposive searches of Legal Source, Google Scholar and Google (grey literature) databases. Content analysis informed three themes of: a) judge or jury member bias; b) loss of freedoms; and c) outdated or narrowly defined laws. The study concludes by warning about a loss of human rights with neurodivergence itself potentially placed on trial through alarmist, inaccurate and demeaning personal judgements. Crucially, a socially just term is promoted to help to depict the discrimination that can be experienced by neurodivergent persons in the contemporary legal system. This term is that of neurodivergism.