Scientific American reports that 8.5 percent of Americans who are not incarcerated suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI). The cause of the injury can range from a car accident to accidentally smacking one’s head against a hard object. When a concussion occurs, so can TBI. But while the number of non-incarcerated persons with TBI is under ten percent of the population, an astounding 60 percent of prisoners have been diagnosed with it.
According to Scientific American, “These injuries, which can alter behavior, emotion and impulse control, can keep prisoners behind bars longer and increases the odds they will end up there again. Although the majority of people who suffer a TBI will not end up in the criminal justice system, each one who does costs states an average of $29,000 a year.”
Reentry Central has posted articles on veterans returning from combat with TBI and landing in prison for criminal behavior. But as Scientific American points out, an individual does not have to engage in a military conflict to receive a TBI. Long forgotten childhood playtime injuries can result in anti-social behavior as an adult.
The financial consequences of incarcerating people with TBI pale in comparison to the social and human consequences. Although many individuals can function normally after a TBI, many others can’t. The Scientific American article relates that someone with TBI may not be able to follow rules. Breaking rules, or laws, may mean going to prison, a place where rules abound. Break a rule in prison, and your earned credits that may allow you to be released early might be taken away. For someone with TBI, being placed in a Secure Housing Unit (a prison within a prison) can cause an increase in erratic or unruly behavior, as isolation has been known to exacerbate mental health issues.
And what happens when someone who had serious problems caused by TBI gets out of prison? The little data that has been collected so far points to a routine of recidivist behavior. The call to diagnose and treat prisoners with TBI is getting attention. Minnesota has been treating inmates with TBI, as well as educating the prisoner’s family and probation officer about TBI. Cognitive Behavior Therapy has been shown to work, and an experimental program for juveniles in El Paso, TX that used this tool saw a “fivefold reduction in recidivism,” according to Scientific American. The magazine stresses that early screening for TBI is essential for proper treatment, and that with treatment arrests and recidivism will be dramatically reduced.
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