Fetal Alcohol Disorder and the Justice System
A Close Look at the Impact FAS has on the Court System
Dec 4, 2008
Prenatal exposure to alcohol is a leading cause of preventable birth defects and along with Spina Bifida and Down Syndrome, one of the top three known causes of developmental delay in children in Canada. Health Canada estimates that approximately 9 in every 1,000 infants are born with FAS.
In North America, FAS was first identified as a medical condition in 1973. FAS is considered the leading cause of developmental disabilities and mental retardation world-wide. There is a small window of opportunity, up to about age 10 or 12, to achieve greatest potential for an alcohol affected child.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD), Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE), and Alcohol-Related Neurological Disorders (ARND) are the most commonly used terms to refer to the various forms of impact, resulting from exposure to prenatal alcohol.
Without support services, children with FAS are at a high risk of developing secondary disabilities as they grow older such as abusing alcohol and other drugs, mental health issues, getting into trouble with the law and unwanted pregnancies.
FAS and the Impact on the Criminal Justice System
The impact of FAS on the justice system has received considerable attention in recent years, but very little evidence is available on the prevalence or outcomes for those with FAS. The lifetime prevalence of incarceration among a sample of individuals with FAS in the US was 32% for adolescents and 42% for adults.
Most research on FAS and the justice system has focused entirely on the offender, not on victims or witnesses who have FAS or victims of offenders who have FAS. There doesn’t appear to be a consistent approach in responding to victims with FAS. As the justice system’s awareness of FAS increases, hopefully the issues surrounding victims with FAS and victims of offenders with FAS will become more pronounced in the future.
Victims of Crime
As with all disabilities, individuals with FAS are at high risk of being victims of crime. They are also vulnerable to being taken advantage of, especially by family members and friends, who may not always be looking out for their best interest. This becomes very difficult in cases of domestic abuse, where a partner may try to persuade a victim with FAS not to testify against him/her in court or to not report abuse to the police. Moreover, some victims with FAS may not realize that certain behaviours of others are wrong (e.g., sexual advances, touching).
Victims with FAS may not fully understand what it means to be a victim of crime or the importance of testifying against the accused or completing a Victim Impact Statement. On the surface, victims with FAS may appear to understand the court process, but if probing was done on their comprehension of the various issues, it would become evident that the vast majority of these individuals do not understand the purpose and outcomes of the court process. Likewise, individuals with FAS may be unreasonably represented in court and later in prison.
Children born with FAS have irreversible brain damage and live with lifelong challenges in learning, employment and socialization. Investing in the prevention of FAS contributes to healthy outcomes for pregnant women and their infants.
