CRIMINALS AND

LOW
INTELLIGENCE:
STEREOTYPES
WHO WE ARE
NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE





By Professor Steven Reiss, Ph.D

09/04/2013 Criminals and Low Intelligence: Stereotypes | Psychology Today
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/who-we-are/201006/criminals-and-low-intelligence-stereotypes 1/2
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Tags: aggression, conviction, crimes, criminality, criminals, intellectual disabilities, iq, iqs, legal
representation, living at home, mental retardation, overwhelming majority, phenomenon, plight,
scholar, stereotype, university of new mexico
The overwhelming majority of people with low Qs are not violent. Those
who are aggressive are much more likely to be placed in a residential or
service program compared with those who are gentle; researchers tend
to study the people in such programs rather than at home. Up to 85
percent of people with D live at home and many receive no services.
Studies are biased to find an association between aggression and low Q
because the researchers tend not to study the 85 percent of the
population living at home.
Aggression in people with low Q is association with depression.

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New ways of thinking about people
by Steven Reiss, Ph.D.
Criminals and Low ntelligence: Stereotypes
The idea that people with D are prone to criminal behavior is a stereotype.
Published on June 28, 2010 by Steven Reiss, Ph.D. in Who We Are
As someone who has worked in the field of intellectual disabilities (D; mental retardation), think
the idea that men with low Q are prone to criminality is a stereotype. This idea is historically
associated with abuse of people with D. The fact is that people with D tend to have little income and,
thus, do not have adequate legal representation when they are charged with crimes. Their plight
through the legal system was well documented by Ruth Luckasson, a University of New Mexico
attorney and scholar. Many innocent people with D are wrongly convicted of crimes. People with D,
and people with "borderline" Q, are abused by smart criminals who instruct them ("go into that house
over there and take the jewelry in the bedroom") to commit crimes when the individual might not
even understand that the behavior is criminal. UCLA's Robert Edgerton showed that when charged
with a crime, these individuals may not understand what the criminal proceedings are about, but they
pretend to understand because they hate being called "stupid." When interviewed, the "yessing"
phenomenon can occur in which the person agrees to anything suggested rather than admit he/she
doesn't understand the question. They are an easy conviction even when they are innocent.
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Steven Reiss is Emeritus Professor
of Psychology and Psychiatry at The
Ohio State University.
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Learn To Deal With t On Breathe Before t Gets Out Of Hand.
breathe.sg/CyberBullying
Arguing in a broad sense is an activity fundamental
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Terri Apter, Ph.D.

This post is a response to Why Criminals Are Less ntelligent than Non-Criminals by Satoshi
Kanazawa
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