Knowledge and Perceptions of Final Year Law Students Regarding Defendants with Intellectual Disabilities at Two Historically Black Law Schools

The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge and perceptions of final year law students at Historically Black Law Schools (HBLS) regarding defendants with intellectual disabilities. The four domains investigated were -- knowledge, social willingness, affect, and previous contact. Also explored were the perceptions of final year law students regarding sentencing and alternative placement options for defendants with intellectual disabilities and the role of an attorney in the defense of a person with an intellectual disability. In addition, the study sought to establish baseline data for future studies investigating the areas in need of educational reform in law school curricula. A multidimensional (i.e., descriptive, exploratory, and correlational) research design was used to conduct the study. One hundred fifteen final year law students participated in the study. The statistical analyses used to analyze the data were univariate descriptive statistics, Pearson Coefficient of Correlation, ANOVA, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results of the statistical procedures revealed that the final year law students exhibited deficits in knowledge about intellectual disability, were willing to interact with persons that are intellectually disabled, had a history of interacting with this population in the past, and exhibited an above average affect or feeling towards intellectually disabled persons. Additional analyses revealed a strong relationship between social willingness and previous contact and that ethnicity played a role in the knowledge and perceptions of final year law students regarding persons with intellectual disabilities.