Police and Civilian Investigator Experiences with Sexual Crimes Involving People with Intellectual Disabilities
A Swedish Qualitative Study
Professor
Department of Social Work, Malmö University, Sweden
charlotta.lofgren@mau.seAssociate Professor
Department of Criminology, Malmö University, Sweden
Publisert 14.10.2025, Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing 2025/1, Årgang 12, side 1-18
This study explores how police officers and civilian investigators in Sweden describe their knowledge and experiences of handling sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities—a group disproportionately affected by such crimes and often marginalized in justice processes. A thematic analysis was conducted based on qualitative research interviews with 12 informants, and analyzed through the lens of intersectional disability theory. The study identified three central themes: a) gut feeling as a tool, b) particularly underreported sexual crimes, and c) cooperation as a strategy. The findings show how institutional practices may reproduce or challenge legal marginalization and highlight gaps in competences, routines, and coordination. The study concludes that a disability-informed and intersectional approach within the justice system is needed to ensure equitable treatment, improve support, and uphold the legal rights of people with intellectual disability.
Keywords
- Sweden ;
- intellectual disability ;
- sexual crime ;
- police investigation ;
- disability studies
1. Introduction
This study concerns experiences of working with sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities within the Swedish Police Authority. Knowledge on this topic is still limited, even though comprehensive research shows that people with intellectual disability are more exposed to sexual victimization than the general population (Kihlbom et al., 2024; Kuosmanen & Starke, 2013; Moen et al., 2024; Tomsa et al., 2021). One reason is that the cognitive and linguistic limitations of people with intellectual disabilities mean that norms and social interactions focused on sexuality can be difficult to understand (Granlund & Göransson, 2011; Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2020; M. McCarthy, 2014). People with intellectual disabilities therefore need support from relatives and staff in special schools and the health and social care sectors. However, this dependency situation also leads to an increased risk of sexual vulnerability (Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2020). Moen et al. (2024) show that the risk exposure also is due to the tendency of others to exploit people with intellectual disabilities.
Further, research shows that this target group, including individuals with autism spectrum conditions, is over-represented in correctional and criminal justice systems (Hellenbach et al., 2017; Søndenaa et al., 2008). The complexities surrounding the vulnerability of people with intellectual disabilities and their over-representation in the criminal justice system have been explored in a small number of international studies. Moen et al. (2024) use the term “legal vulnerability” when describing the interaction between police officers and people with intellectual disabilities in Norway. They found that a lack of competence or experience among people with intellectual disabilities with regard to social interactions with others makes them vulnerable to exploitation (Moen et al., 2024). Further, in other explorations of the complexity of this area, Jane McCarthy et al. (2021) and Søndenaa et al. (2019) found a lack of competence in identifying whether a person has an intellectual disability, a lack of routines, prejudiced opinions, and communicational difficulties in the justice systems of Australia, Norway, and England.
Currently, the Swedish Police Authority states that there is a lack of knowledge about intellectual disability, which produces major challenges with regard to knowing how cases of this kind should be handled when sexual crimes are reported (Polisen, 2021; SR, 2021). The police stress the absence of guidelines and information about whether, and how, such incidents should be coded and categorized, and note that this probably results in a dark figure of crime (Polisen, 2021). The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has also highlighted the importance of increased knowledge about intellectual disabilities in improving the criminal justice system’s treatment of persons with intellectual disabilities and investigation practices (Nilsson & Westlund, 2007). Given these challenges and gaps in both practice and research, this study explores how police officers and civilian investigators in Sweden experience and navigate sexual crime cases.
1.1 Aim and research questions
This study examines how Swedish police officers and civilian investigators describe their experiences and competences in handling sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities among the Swedish Police Authority. The following research questions guide the process:
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In what ways do police officers and civilian investigators perceive sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities?
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How do they express their competences and experiences working with the target group in these situations?
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What are the police officers and civilian investigators’ professional needs regarding, for example, report tools, further education, and supervision?
2. Previous research
2.1 Sexual vulnerability and violence among people with intellectual disabilities
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) defines sexual violence as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting.”
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen, 2022) identifies a specific form of violence—disability-related violence—that involves violating conduct which is focused on a person with disabilities and that deepens an already existing vulnerability. Studies show that people with disabilities are at increased risk of violence compared to the rest of the population (e.g., Baladerian, 2009; Byrne, 2018; Latvala et al., 2023; M. McCarthy, 2014; Myndigheten för delaktighet, 2023a, 2023b; Starke et al., 2024). For instance, a literature review by Byrne (2018) reveals a prevalence of 14–32% among children with intellectual disabilities and 7–34% among adults with intellectual disabilities. Further, a meta-analysis by Mailhot Amborski et al. (2022) shows that the risk of sexual assault is almost twice as high for people with intellectual disabilities as for the general population.
A Swedish interview study on sexual and reproductive health and rights among 19 young adults with intellectual disabilities found that the majority described experiences of bullying, exclusion, sexual violations, and abuse (Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2020). The sexual offenses commonly occurred via the internet, a risk arena for sexual crime noted in previous research (Iglesias et al., 2019; Löfgren-Mårtenson et al., 2018; Starke et al., 2024). At the same time, only a few of the young adults in the Swedish study had reported the crimes to the Police Authority, although some met their perpetrators every day at school (Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2020). This is in line with research showing a general underreporting with regard to sexual crime (DeLisi et al., 2016; Drury et al., 2020). However, people with intellectual disabilities might find it especially challenging to make their voice heard within the legal system (Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2020). Further, they are more dependent on formal and informal carers for support to file a report (Didi et al., 2016).
Another Swedish qualitative study showed that there is a thin line between consent and abuse when Swedish young adults with intellectual disabilities reflect on issues of their sexuality (Hart et al., 2024). While this increases the risks of people with intellectual disabilities becoming victims of sexual crime, a dilemma also arises in cases where they are suspected as perpetrators, because they may not understand that what is being committed or attempted constitutes a sexual offense (Hart et al., 2024). People with intellectual disabilities constitute an even more unrecognized and marginalized group as suspected perpetrators than as victims (Buljevac et al., 2016). Because of the lack of knowledge, they do not receive appropriate treatment, which increases the chances of recidivism (Buljevac et al., 2016).
2.2 Police work with people with intellectual disabilities exposed to sexual violence
The Swedish Police Authority is divided into seven geographical regions and employs approximately 40,000 people, of whom about 24,000 are police officers (Polisen, 2024a). Approximately 35% of all police officers are women (Polisen, 2024b). The basic police education consists of four full-time semesters on the police program followed by six months of paid trainee training (Polisen, 2025). However, there are further education options for those who work with gender-based violence, for example, or the interrogation of children involved in sexual crime cases (Polisen, 2024c). Police officers may have patrol duties or work with criminal investigations. Some investigators are trained police officers, while some are civilian investigators with other educational backgrounds, for example criminologists (Polisen, 2024c).
Some previous studies have focused on police officers’ more general experiences of working with individuals with intellectual disabilities. For example, an Australian study analyzed the experiences and perceptions of operational members of the police (N = 229) regarding their contacts with people with intellectual disabilities (Henshaw & Thomas, 2012). The police reported having contacts with people with intellectual disabilities on a regular basis. They also reported challenges with communication and access to assistance. Many believed that they were proficient at dealing with people with intellectual disabilities, but those who needed training reported lower confidence in handling such situations. In a systematic review focused on the interactions of law enforcement officers with suspects who have intellectual disabilities, Gulati et al. (2020) identified a need for specialized training and a need to improve safeguards. Moreover, they found that law enforcement officers experience challenges in identifying people with intellectual disabilities and in supporting or communicating with these individuals through the investigation process.
When it comes to sexual crimes and people with intellectual disabilities, Starke et al. (2016) found that a vulnerability discourse among professionals (including police officers) working with the target group promotes both a victim discourse and a protection discourse. For example, during criminal trials, police officers use “notions of physical age” to portray women with intellectual disability as “ideal victims” of the non-disabled male offenders on trial (Starke et al., p. 315). Within the protection discourse, professionals construct people with intellectual disabilities as being “in need of protection” because of their sexual “risk-taking behavior.” An Australian study analyzed the narratives of females with intellectual disabilities about their experiences of engaging with the legal system in response to domestic violence (Douglas & Harpur, 2016). Douglas and Harpur (2016) argue that enabling survivors with intellectual disabilities to engage with the legal system is a challenge. They stress the importance of training first responders such as police officers and social workers according to United Nation’s Article 12—Equal recognition before the law (UN Committee, 2014). Some of the women in the study experienced an improvement in their capacity to engage with the law when they gained support of trained police officers and social workers.
In the United Kingdom, Michelle McCarthy et al. (2019) surveyed the attitudes and practices of police and other professionals toward women with intellectual disabilities who experience domestic violence. This study found that other professionals were more likely than the police to see women with intellectual disabilities as being especially vulnerable, and it pointed to a need for interventions focused on increasing awareness about domestic violence in this population.
3. Theoretical framework
The study is grounded in disability studies, particularly the social model of disability (Oliver, 1996), and informed by a social constructivist perspective. This theoretical framework shaped our interpretation of the empirical data while allowing for a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021). By focusing on the experiences of Swedish police officers and civilian investigators, we explore how professional experiences and routines intersect with structural understandings of intellectual disability and sexual crimes.
Within the social model of disability (Oliver, 1996), disability is conceptualized not as an individual deficit but as a result of environmental, attitudinal, and systemic barriers. In the context of criminal justice, this means that people with intellectual disabilities are not vulnerable solely due to cognitive impairments, but because of the lack of for example accessible procedures, communication support, and adequate training among police officers and private investigators. From this view, vulnerability is constructed, not intrinsic.
The chosen theoretical framework is particularly relevant in a Scandinavian welfare-state context, where inclusion, protection, and equal treatment are guiding ideals, but where structural ableism can persist beneath egalitarian rhetoric (e.g., Starke et al., 2016). Previous research from Sweden and other Nordic countries suggests that formal commitments to equity often mask institutional gaps, particularly in cases involving intellectual disabilities and sexuality (Löfgren-Mårtenson, 2020; Starke et al., 2016). This perspective is useful in analyzing how these gaps are manifested in the daily practices of police officers, especially in situations lacking clear protocols or inter-agency coordination (cf. Wallace & McGhee Hassrick, 2022).
We also draw on the concept of epistemic injustice (Fricker, 2007), which describes how individuals from marginalized groups may be systematically disbelieved or not regarded as credible knowers. This is evident when people with intellectual disabilities are not seen as reliable witnesses or complainants, which can hinder both the reporting and investigation of sexual crimes.
Finally, we situate our work within intersectional disability theory, which considers how experiences of marginalization are shaped by the intersections of disability, gender, and institutional authority (Garland-Thomson, 2002; Kafer, 2013). This is useful in this study while analyzing the police officers’ experiences of their encounters with people with intellectual disabilities involved in sexual crimes. For example, women with intellectual disabilities are often constructed as ideal victims, while male victims or suspected female perpetrators often remain invisible. These dynamics are understood not just as individual attitudes but as embedded within professional training, organizational cultures, and broader social hierarchies (Garland-Thomson, 2002; Kafer, 2013).
4. Method
4.1 Research design and recruitment process
We have chosen qualitative semi-structured interviews in order to answer the research questions and develop in-depth knowledge on the area (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Kvale & Brinkmann, 2014). The participants were recruited through a collaboration with the Middle Region of the Swedish Police Authority (Polisregion Mitt). Two “gate openers” assisted in providing the names of staff in leading positions in three of Sweden’s seven police regions. Being a qualitative study, this was considered as relevant, since we were seeking varying experiences and knowledge (Creswell & Poth, 2018). The leading regional police officers forwarded an information letter containing a request to participate: “Would you like to participate in a study on police officers’ experiences of dealing with sexual crime when people with intellectual disabilities are involved? The aim is to create knowledge in this subject area that can be useful to the Swedish Police Authority.” The inclusion criteria were open to both police officers and civilian investigators who either worked with such cases or who felt that they might have encountered the target group in the context of sexual crimes while on patrol duties. The participants then voluntarily contacted the researchers via email.
4.2 Participants
On the basis of this convenience sample, a total of 12 informants (11 females and one male) were interviewed, of whom 10 were trained police officers, one had a master’s degree in criminology, and one a master’s degree in business studies. Four informants were working as patrol officers and eight as investigators, of whom six were trained police officers and two civilian investigators. They worked in Region South, Region Middle, and Region West, and had been working at the Swedish Police Authority for between three and 48 years.
4.3 Data collecting, analyzing, and coding
The interviews were conducted online in 2022, via Zoom, due to geographical distance and the COVID-19 pandemic, and lasted 35–60 minutes. Both researchers—one a criminologist, the other a social worker and sexologist—participated in six interviews, while the other six interviews were conducted by the authors individually. A thematic interview guide was used, which included the following themes: reporting procedure, knowledge about intellectual disability and sexuality, and interrogations focused on sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities.
The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using NVIVO 14, and analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021). While the analysis was indicative, coding and theme development were informed by concepts from disability studies, particularly the social model of disability and epistemic injustice. Both researchers coded the transcribed interviews individually, looking for variations and similarities that might be connected to themes, and then compared their coding, which was found to be consistent, thus validating the final coding employed in the analysis (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2014). Finally, the analysis of the coding generated three themes: a) gut feeling as a tool, b) particularly underreported sexual crimes, and c) cooperation as a strategy.
4.4 Ethical considerations
The project followed the ethical guidelines of the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. The real names of the informants, the incidents they described, and the city/town in which they work have been withheld. The audio files and transcribed interviews were stored in a protected folder on a password-protected computer to which only the authors have access.
5. Results
5.1 Gut feeling as a tool
The interviews show a varying degree of knowledge about intellectual disabilities. Some of the informants stated that they had vague perceptions of the implications of this specific type of disability, while others had a more comprehensive knowledge as a result of further education or professional or private experiences. Differing levels of knowledge were also shown in relation to their roles as patrol officers or civilian investigators.
5.1.1 First encounters
The informants who worked as patrol officers stated that they lacked further education or specialized training on disability and sexual crimes, even though they were the ones who meet people on the street in direct association with a suspected crime having occurred. One informant who worked as a patrol officer said:
Then I get there, someone who has no education and who absolutely doesn’t know the best way to respond and who is still quite clumsy in these matters. […] … How do I interact [with this group]? How should I set up my conversation with this person successfully? (Interview 2)
Some informants had encountered people with intellectual disabilities on only a few occasions during their long professional careers, whereas others said they had dealt with such cases a few times a year. However, the informants also stated that it could be difficult to know whether or not they had met a person with intellectual disabilities, for example when someone waves to a police officer on the street or calls the emergency number to say that something has happened. When staff at a care home or special school call the police, it is more likely that the case may involve a person with intellectual disabilities. One informant reflected on a hypothetical situation and said: “If an individual turns to me [as a patrol officer] through someone who is a member of their support staff, it usually ends up with an investigation starting right away” (Interview 2). The informants who worked as patrol officers described that they often act on the basis of their intuition or “gut feeling.” One informant stated that “you just know that something is not really making sense, or is weird somehow” (Interview 1). At the same time, some of the informants reflected on this and said that acting only on the basis of gut feeling would never be accepted as knowledge when working with other crimes, for example, crimes involving drugs or juvenile delinquency.
Other interviewees stressed that a feeling of knowledge about how to interact with different kinds of people, irrespective of disability, develops with increasing professional day-to-day experience. People may react emotionally in relation to a suspected sex offense regardless. These informants argued that there is a need for both a broad and an in-depth knowledge of different variations among people of all kinds.
In line with this, some informants reflected on having in-depth knowledge as a result of private experiences, such as themselves having a child, sibling, or other relatives with a disability. These informants emphasized that people with intellectual disabilities constitute a heterogeneous group, with large variations that depend on, among other things, the type and degree of disability. An informant who also was a parent said:
I know quite a lot […] but there are such differences within the group, so even if you think you know something about intellectual disability, it doesn’t apply to the next person. No one is quite the same! (Interview 11)
To sum up, the interviews show a broad variety of experiences of encounters with people of intellectual disabilities. According to the informants, knowledge about the disability is important even though the group is not homogeneous and each encounter is unique.
5.1.2 Investigations
In contrast to the patrol officers, the informants who worked with the investigation of sexual crimes stated that they had received further training on sexual abuse and children. One informant said that knowledge about various functional disabilities was included in their training. For this interviewee, it was particularly useful to know that intellectual disability usually means that the psychological and social maturity of the person does not correspond to their actual age. At the same time, the informants’ recollections about the content of their further education varied. It may have been years since they completed the course, and new knowledge in the field may have accumulated since that time. One informant argued that there should be regular supplemental training, and that it should not least include information on intellectual disability:
Yes, it [supplemental education] has been sparse over the years … […] you don’t get it regularly. Many may have been working at the investigation department for several years without … [taking any courses]. I’ve had 15 minutes now and then over the years. […] But nothing on intellectual disability! (Interview 12)
However, several informants stated that there was no difference in handling sexual crime cases involving people with intellectual disabilities and cases involving others. According to these informants, trust is always the most important factor in the meeting between the police and all those they serve. And trust needs to be established in the first few minutes. This was particularly true in sex cases involving people with intellectual disabilities, which required more time to be set aside. But, as in all cases, the information that is initially collected must be accurate, and the questioning must be conducted in a way that does not undermine its value in a subsequent court case. One informant said:
Trust is the key factor when investigating sexual crimes …. Otherwise, you do not get the information that you need to continue with the case to court. Of course, this is especially true when you meet a person with intellectual disabilities. Act calmly and clearly. (Interview 9)
Some of the interviewees mentioned that there were similarities between interrogations involving people with intellectual disabilities and children who are exposed to sexual crimes. Most often, civilian employees are brought in to assist in the interrogation of people with intellectual disabilities because they have been specially trained to deal with children. The presence of a civilian employee creates a calmer situation for the person being interrogated. One informant, who was a civilian employee, explained this advantage:
It is great that they call in child interrogators. […] It’s because you shouldn’t ask leading questions, and you often film the children, so they don’t have to attend a trial and so on. […] Then you are sitting in a neutral room, like. It’s not a police officer, it’s a civilian, right. […] I think that knowledge is extremely important. (Interview 11)
One informant described the interrogation procedure and pointed out that it is particularly important to structure the interrogation for clarity. The informant emphasized the importance of expressing oneself clearly and concretely when questioning people with intellectual disabilities after they have been involved in a sexual crime. Police officers may find it difficult to perceive whether these individuals really understand that they are suspected of having committed a crime. The questioning can then become more about clarification, and it requires a calm environment, said the informant:
Yes, you should have a calm environment and take it easy and try to have conditions that are as good as possible, which we should always have, but we should have an extra focus on that when it comes to a person with these difficulties. (Informant 1)
One informant stressed the need for clear guidelines on how to conduct themselves when dealing with people with intellectual disabilities, for example, the importance of expressing oneself concretely in easily accessible language, avoiding metaphors or things that require reading between the lines.
I think that there have to be much clearer guidelines for how we handle cases where we suspect that the perpetrator or the victim has a [intellectual] disability, and then it must look like, I don’t really know, but there need to be [guidelines]. (Interview 2)
The descriptions illustrate how informal knowledge systems operate in the absence of structured training, reinforcing professional norms that may reproduce ableist assumptions, as framed within the social model of disability (Oliver, 1996).
5.2 Particularly underreported sexual crimes
The informants stated that sexual crimes that involve people with intellectual disabilities are viewed as being particularly underreported. There is a dark figure linked to challenges associated with the reporting and investigation of these cases due to the lack of knowledge and to attitudes surrounding the target group.
5.2.1 Challenges related to reporting
As noted, the interviews show that it is difficult to know the actual extent of sexual crimes that involve people with intellectual disabilities. There is no box for disability that can be “ticked” on the form that is completed when an incident is reported. There are both pros and cons associated with this, said one informant, since there is a risk of misjudgment that might have consequences for how a person is treated during the legal process. At the same time, it contributes to a dark figure relating to the group of people with intellectual disabilities who are involved in sexual crimes. The informant continued: “I have no idea …. Is it common or not? Are they victims or perpetrators? Or both? I just know one thing—there is probably a dark figure for these crimes!” (Interview 8). According to the informants, sexual crimes in general are often difficult to prove, but they are especially challenging when the suspect has an intellectual disability. If a person cannot verbally express themselves to a sufficient degree during an interrogation, their credibility at trial can be affected. When both the victim and the suspected perpetrator have an intellectual disability, other complications arise. For example, the same person could be both a victim and a perpetrator. Individuals with intellectual disabilities may struggle with boundaries and consent, which can result in interactions where roles are not easily categorized. Hart et al. (2024) show that young adults with intellectual disabilities might have difficulties in understanding the social codes embedded in sexual situations. This could lead to an incomprehension of sexual consent, or when consenting to sex may lead to abuse. These situations often require nuanced, multidisciplinary assessments and tailored interventions and support.
Further, the same person could commit sexual crimes against others with intellectual disabilities numerous times without being reported. One informant argued that repeated offenses could occur because neither the police nor the staff surrounding the person know how to act, and sometimes these cases are not taken seriously. This also contributes to the dark figure for these cases.
5.2.2 Attitudes to gender and disability
Several of the informants stated that it is most often girls or women with intellectual disabilities who are sexually exploited, as they are more easily deceived than other women, or they end up in risky situations. One informant, who works as a police officer and investigator, said:
It is young girls who are sexually exploited because they have a [intellectual] disability. The perpetrators find them because they are such easy victims. The crimes are so difficult; so I remember a girl I worked with, where I understood very well that he had taken advantage of her, and it was a rape. (Interview 10)
According to the interviews, it can be more difficult to identify cases involving boys or men with intellectual disabilities. This is in line with research that explores masculinity norms surrounding victims (Jon, 2017). Traditional masculinity norms shape the understanding of crime, for example how and why crimes are committed, especially by men. Therefore, it is possible that there are unreported cases involving boys and men who are victims of abuse. For example, one informant stated that males can be exposed to online grooming in the same way as females. An informant who worked as a patrol officer emphasized the importance of understanding that sexual offenders seek out people with intellectual disabilities regardless of gender, because they can be easily manipulated and exploited sexually.
This theme shows how assumptions on intellectual disability together with a social constructivist perspective on gender is in line with Garland-Thomson’s (2002) theory of gendered disability framing.
5.3 Cooperation as a professional strategy
The interviews show that cooperation is seen as a necessity in dealing with cases focused on sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities. This cooperation may involve other authorities and organizations, and also relatives or contact persons. Not least, it is important to have special competence teams within the Police Authority. This was seen as a means of both promoting the prevention of sexual crimes and providing support to the target group.
5.3.1 Special schools, workplaces, and group homes
Collaborations with special schools, group homes and adapted workplaces were also seen as crucial. The target group is relatively small and becomes invisible in relation to the larger group of people who are exposed to or expose others to sexual crimes. Therefore, authorities and organizations should help each other to reduce the risks for people with intellectual disability. One informant who works as a police officer argued: “It is a small group in society, but it’s a very vulnerable group, and we think it’s important to highlight and prevent that” (Interview 12).
The interviewees frequently stressed that sexual crimes must always be investigated by the police, even when they involve people with intellectual disabilities. One informant spoke about a situation where the school staff had tried to investigate an incident themselves: “Instead of reporting it, they tried to solve it themselves at the [special needs] school. He [the principal] went and talked to the guy and then he concluded that ‘Yeah, but he had gotten consent from her’” (Interview 11). The informants stated that it is often good for a person with intellectual disabilities to have someone with them during an interrogation—a relative or contact person who knows the person, can explain what is being said, and can provide them with support.
However, one informant argued that it is important to note that people with intellectual disabilities might find themselves being overly dependent on a relative or contact person. Moreover, the person with intellectual disabilities may have been abused by a relative, or they may find it embarrassing or offensive to have to talk about sexuality in front of a staff member or parent. The informant described a sensitive dependency situation of this kind:
When she kind of dared to tell us, we understood that something had happened. It was when her mother left that she told me what had happened. Then it is important to understand which people can be present at the interrogation or not, because it is about such private matters. Only then could she sort of express that she had met this guy. (Interview 3)
Aside from preventive measures, the informants proposed collaboration in the form of supportive interventions. One area for improvement would be the provision of aftercare for people with intellectual disabilities who have been involved in sexual crime investigations. To accomplish this, the Police Authority needs to cooperate more regularly with other agencies. One informant said:
I’ll think about this aftercare thing. I think it can also be developed so that they [people with intellectual disabilities] feel better. It may be up to other actors, but it is still important that the police also think about it—what you can do and what contacts you make and how you can pass on information about such things. (Interview 12)
5.3.2 Professional teams with specific competencies
Some of the informants talked about the importance of existing functional collaboration groups, which involve organizations with different forms of expertise. For example, there are “child advocacy centers” where the police collaborate with other authorities to provide shelter and security to children who have been exposed to sexual crimes. These collaboration groups can also function as advisory groups for others within the police and for other collaborating agencies or organizations. One informant described working in such a group as an investigator and expert:
I am part of an advisory group that has existed here in X city for twenty years. The counseling group works with adults who have autism or intellectual disability. We have an action plan that goes out to all day-to-day operations and various group homes and LSS [the Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments] administrators and managers. And that means that many people call me if a problem arises, and that’s also how I want it to be. (Interview 4)
The interviews show that preventive work is dependent on “people who are passionate”—that is, professionals who get involved and put extra personal effort and energy into the issue of sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities. One informant who works in a leading position as a police officer said:
Preventing crime, but […] people who put in a little extra time and can do it in a good way. It’s not part of the mission, and the organization doesn’t support it, so that’s kind of what I was thinking. That this is not included in the assignment in any way. But it means a lot. Those who then get involved a lot. Those who are prepared to go the extra mile. (Interview 11)
However, the interviews also indicate that personal commitment comes at a cost. Some informants said that they reached a point where they could not take it anymore and went on sick leave or changed work assignments. Most people in the Police Authority who handle sexual offenses have access to both regular supervision and debriefing if they want it. The informants expressed valuing these resources, since sexual crimes can be particularly challenging to deal with. At the same time, it appears that police staff do not commonly use these resources. Instead, a culture of silence may prevail in relation to sexual crimes. Therefore, as one of the interviewees pointed out, a routine for contacting and having easy access to a “debriefing group” is very important:
And then you can contact a person quite quickly, you don’t need to book. But I don’t feel that this type of subject matter is something that you talk about at all. Whether it might be difficult, or how to deal with them. It’s like, it’s almost a key question. (Interview 2)
This third and final theme illustrates the need to develop competence by sharing experiences and handling sexual crimes that involve people with intellectual disabilities from a variety of professional backgrounds. Collaboration as a professional strategy could also be a help to strengthen epistemic injustice among people with intellectual disabilities (Fricker, 2007).
6. Discussion
This qualitative study has examined knowledge and experience in working with sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities among 12 informants working as police officers and civilian investigators at the Swedish Police Authority. Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis: a) gut feeling as a tool, b) particularly underreported sexual crimes, and c) cooperation as a strategy. These findings reflect the challenges of working within an institutional context that, despite welfare-state ideals, lacks structural tools to accommodate cognitive diversity and issues at the core of the social model of disability (Oliver, 1996).
The first theme, on gut feeling as a tool when handling sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities, mirrors the challenges faced by the informants, primarily among police patrol officers. These comprise those professionals responsible for initial encounters with people in acute situations. The results showed that the informants stressed the importance of gut feelings in their daily professional experiences of meeting people with different social backgrounds and personalities in various vulnerable situations. From a social model perspective, this informal knowledge practice may reinforce institutional ableism or reflect a lack of structural accommodation (Oliver, 1996). Further, the informants also emphasized personal involvement as being particularly important in investigations of sexual crimes, in line with Tidmarsh et al. (2021), who found that empathy, good communication, and an open mind were important characteristics for police officers in sexual crime investigations. It is also possible that their gut feeling is a result of police officers’ need to make quick decisions. According to Lipsky (1980), inadequacy of personal and organizational resources contribute to the “improvisational” ways in which law enforcement is carried out. He argues that discretion is not only an inherent part of public service delivery, but a defining feature of it. Police officers are what Lipsky (1980) calls prototypical street-level bureaucrats, and operate in environments marked by resource constraint, ambiguous policies, and unpredictable human behavior. As a result, they must exercise judgment, in real time, often relying on personal experience, contextual cues and informal norms. Lipsky (1980) emphasizes that this challenge calls for structural oversight, professional standards and organizational accountability mechanisms. Thus, our research shows the importance of reducing uncertainty when the police investigate cases of sexual offenses involving people with intellectual disabilities, and the need to receive adequate training in this area.
The second theme concerns the way that sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities are perceived by the informants as particularly underreported sexual crimes. The study’s informants indicated that sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities are particularly complex and seldom get to court or lead to conviction. Moen et al. (2024) also reported challenges during investigative interviews, among other things because people with intellectual disabilities may have difficulties in recounting past events. In a study about interview techniques used in investigative interviews with victims with intellectual disabilities it was found that the questioning strategies were not in accordance with best-practice recommendations and that the interviewers often relied on yes/no questions (Åker & Johnson, 2020). In line with this, Moen et al. (2024) therefore stress a need for more research in this area and argue that it is essential to improve professional knowledge about the invisibility of sexual crimes among people with intellectual disabilities. The Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Social Assessment (SBU) has also highlighted difficulties related to the reporting of abuse due to a fear of the environment’s reactions or a lack of knowledge as a result of the strong relationships of dependency between people with intellectual disabilities and staff members and/or relatives (Kihlbom et al., 2024). Therefore, more research is needed on the effects and experiences of psychological and psychosocial interventions for people with intellectual disabilities who have been subjected to sexual violence (Kihlbom et al., 2024).
The findings can also be more deeply understood through the lens of disability studies. The challenges described by the informants, such as reliance on intuition, limited training, and the invisibility of sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities, reflect systemic barriers rather than individual deficits. From the perspective of the social model of disability (Oliver, 1996), vulnerability in this context is not intrinsic but constructed through a lack of institutional preparedness and procedural accessibility.
The results of the current study also show that the informants’ description of sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities is linked to gender. The informants stated that it is often women with intellectual disabilities who are exposed to sexual crimes. This could lead to boys and men with intellectual disability becoming even more invisible as victims. In addition, the interviewees perceived it to be more common for a boy or man with an intellectual disability to be the suspected perpetrator than a girl or woman, which conversely means that suspected female perpetrators with intellectual disabilities are made invisible. The gendered dimensions of vulnerability—particularly the invisibility of male victims—highlight the importance of an intersectional disability studies perspective (Garland-Thomson, 2002; Kafer, 2013). Incorporating these frameworks allows a perspective that moves beyond descriptions of individual police behavior to a critique of how professional norms, institutional silence, and welfare-state contradictions collectively contribute to legal and social exclusion.
The third theme, on cooperation as a strategy, captures the informants’ descriptions of the importance of collaboration with other agencies and organizations (e.g., such as special schools, workplaces, and living accommodation for people with intellectual disabilities). This is seen as a part of developing professional skills in handling these cases of sexual crimes. Working in teams could strengthen and increase levels of knowledge in this area by developing reflexive competences within the Swedish Police Authority. In this study, the majority of the informants were females, and they shared their reflections on knowledge and attitudes concerning sexual crime, gender, and intellectual disability. When it comes to developing reflexive competences, Bäck and Haake (2020) have shown that Swedish female police officers value the importance of training more highly than their male colleagues. Collaboration as a professional strategy could also be a help to strengthen epistemic injustice among people with intellectual disabilities (Fricker, 2007). Viewing the target group as not reliable may hinder both reporting and investigation of sexual crimes.
7. Conclusion
By integrating disability studies with a focus on intersectionality and epistemic justice, this study offers new insights into how institutional practices can reproduce or disrupt legal marginalization. An increase in competence among police employees should contribute to increasing the visibility of sexual crimes involving people with intellectual disabilities and to an increased professionalism in the various phases involved in the reporting and investigation of such offenses. Furthermore, a joint effort involving different organizations and agencies such as special schools and social services would constitute an important preventive strategy that would also increase legal certainty and improve support for people with intellectual disabilities. In recognizing the social construction of vulnerability and credibility in the justice system, this study calls for a systematic shift that centers disability-informed practice as a matter of legal equity and human rights.
8. Limitations
This study is based on a relatively small number of informants, most of whom worked with the investigation of sexual crimes. Consequently, the knowledge of patrol officers, who are the first to respond to victims or suspected perpetrators with an intellectual disability, has been less well illuminated.
The majority of the interviewees were women, which prevents us from drawing any conclusions about gender differences among the informants with regard to the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities.
9. Future Research
In addition to the need for further research with a more comprehensive sample, it is important to investigate how people with intellectual disabilities who have been involved in sexual crimes experience their treatment by the police. A greater focus on their own voices could reduce the invisibility that currently characterizes sexual crimes in which this group is involved.
Acknowledgments
The study is partially funded by the research platform People, Places and Prevention, Malmö University (https://mau.se/en/research/prominent-research/research-platforms/people-places-and-prevention/). We would like to thank the informants who participated in the study.
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