Is It Better to Be Known?: Understanding the Vulnerability of Autistic Individuals in Registry-based Programs Used by Police Services in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Registry-based programs have been adopted by many police services in Ontario, Canada, as a voluntary opportunity for vulnerable persons or their caregivers to provide personal information to police in case of crisis or emergency. The overall goal of this dissertation was to provide a foundational understanding of these programs using a grounded theory methodology. This dissertation is comprised of three separate studies that reflect the different forms of grounded theory coding. Study one explored the programs promoted on official police service websites in Ontario, Canada, using inductive qualitative content analysis. This content analysis revealed that sampled police services promote four programs on their websites to address encounters between police and autistic individuals. By examining the content of these programs, it was determined that autistic individuals are labelled vulnerable persons due to the perceived relationship between inherent autistic traits and behaviours and the risk of harm or victimisation when they are without the supervision of a caregiver. Study two analysed a subset of the programs promoted on official police services websites, Autism Registries, using the What is the Problem Represented to Be? framework for discourse analysis. From this analysis, the suggested problem solved by Autism Registries is the risk of harm and victimisation resulting from autistic traits and behaviour. Constructing autistic individuals this way in the materials for the Autism Registries reproduces ableist discourses, which suggest that these individuals are incapable of risk management and, therefore, should be relegated to the care of others. It also obscures the contributions of broader social conditions contributing to encounters between police and autistic individuals. Finally, in Study three, officers from seven police services across Ontario, Canada, were interviewed to understand how they conceptualised the vulnerability of autistic individuals and the role registry-based programs played in their encounters with them. Sampled police officers recognised that the vulnerability of autistic individuals was complex and resulted from multiple contributing variables. They described how registry-based programs could be used for search and rescue operations, navigating encounters requiring de-escalation, and justifying accommodations made to policies and procedures. Combined, the results from these studies suggest that registry-based programs in police services can benefit both officers and autistic individuals during crisis encounters; however, by focusing on these encounters, the broader social conditions that are contributing to elevated police contact in the first place are left unexamined and unaddressed. This includes ableist assumptions that contribute to stigma and discrimination towards autistic individuals and the austere government spending that has left the gaps in service for police to fill.