Samenvatting

The first part of the article provides a review of the literature concerning the prevalence of people with learning disabilities in forensic settings, the treatment programs for this population, and the evidence for the effectiveness of these programs. In the second part, a large prospective study into the effectiveness of long-term inpatient treatment in a Dutch treatment center is reported. Preliminary results indicate that the percentage of improved patients in terms of reduction of criminogenic needs increases steadily, and that about half of the patients significantly improve within the first two years of the treatment. In addition, patients are released to settings which are less restrictive than the pre-treatment settings.