Psycho-Legal Issues Affecting Rape Survivors with Mental Retardation

Rape survivors who are believed to have mental retardation are subjected to a somewhat different sequence of legal events compared to those without this disability. Their intellectual functioning is questioned, as is their competence to give evidence in the trial of the alleged perpetrator. The authors studied 10 such cases in terms of the contextual aspects of the rape, the survivors' cognitive functioning and their ability to provide accounts of the assaults. The findings indicated that although eight of the subjects were mentally retarded, oply one of them was unable to relate details of the abuse. It is the authors' contention that a non-intimidatory approach, characterized by developmentally sensitive interviewing can substantially increase the individual's level of confidence, enabling them to relate the events in simple terms. Considering the adversarial court procedure, it is advocated that provision be made for the use of an intermediary system in cases involving rape of individuals with mental retardation, irrespective of age.