Theory of Mind, Early Social Experiences and the Judgment of Harmfulness and Wrongfulness

Background:

Despite sensational portrayals of persons with ASD committing hideous crimes (e.g., Adam Lanza in the Sandy Hook massacre; Lysiak, Slattery, & Schapiro, 2012), there is no evidence to suggest that persons with ASD are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour (Freckelton, 2013).

Objectives:

The present study sought to identify if some persons with ASD may be vulnerable to involvement in criminal behaviour, not because they are bad people, but because they do not understand the wrongfulness of the situation or the wrongfulness of their actions due to features associated with the disorder, specifically limited early social experiences and poor Theory of Mind (ToM). It was hypothesised that individuals with ASD would have more difficulties making in the moment judgments of wrongfulness than typically developing (TD) individuals, and would base wrongfulness judgments on the actual harmfulness of consequences to a greater degree than TD individuals. Theory of mind (ToM) deficits and limited early social experiences in ASD participants were hypothesised to contribute to these difficulties.

Methods:

Thirty-three individuals with ASD and twenty-seven TD individuals completed an online questionnaire, rating wrongfulness of behaviour in a number of scenarios, both before and after the consequences of the behaviour were revealed; harmfulness was also rated.

Results:

Wrongfulness and harmfulness judgments did not differ significantly between ASD and TD participants, although a dichotomous view of wrongfulness was more prevalent among ASD than TD participants. Harmfulness and wrongfulness ratings were positively correlated for both groups. Both groups tended to change their judgment of wrongfulness if behaviour did not ultimately result in harm, however maintained wrongfulness judgments when harmful consequences occurred. For the ASD group, excluding individuals who viewed wrongfulness

dichotomously, more severe ToM deficits were associated with less differentiation of the severity of harmfulness. However, a relationship between ToM deficits and impaired wrongfulness judgment was not demonstrated nor any link found between judgments of wrongfulness and early social experiences.

Conclusions:

It appears that persons with ASD do not differ from their peers with regard to perceptions of wrongfulness. These findings have relevance in the legal system, particularly in the assessment of competence to commit a crime, when demonstrating the understanding of the wrongfulness of behaviour is a central criterion.