Crime and Acquired Brain Injury

The BIG Lottery provided UKABIF with a Development Grant in September 2008 which was used to carry out an evaluation of the levels of traumatic brain injury in the prison populations and related patterns of offending. The results of this project highlight how vital it is to carry out further study in this area and a full research project proposal is currently under assessment by the same funder.

Brain injury can result in problems with impulse control, planning and memory. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is the main form - typically resulting from assaults and road accidents. TBI is 2-3 times more common in offenders compared to non-offenders and is linked to increased risk of offending - particularly repeat offending.

There is growing concern that TBI is not addressed within forensic rehabilitation, and repeated calls for the rehabilitation of offenders to be enhanced to manage issues related to brain injury. This would maximise the chances of offenders with TBI returning to society and employment. This suggests that a change in policy is needed to ensure that TBI is screened for and managed within custodial systems. The consequent smaller number of offenders and re-offenders would lead to increased community safety and reduced crime rates overall.

The project aims to provide a better understanding of how TBI is associated with crime, and for identifying targets for intervention. For example, TBI leads to problems with handling emotions such as anger, and acting without thinking. We will investigate how the effects of brain injury may lead to offending related to such problems. We will also explore the life histories of offenders with and without TBI to identify key turning points to, and from, crime. We will also examine these issues in the context of other important factors for offending, such as drug usage and mental health status.