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3.6 - Head Injury and Offending

from Part III - Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

By
Thomas M. McMillan
Edited by
Jennifer M. Brown  and
Miranda A. H. Horvath
Jennifer M. Brown
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Miranda A. H. Horvath
Affiliation:
University of Suffolk
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Summary

There is growing interest in the relationship between head injury, offending and recidivism and in developments in the criminal justice and forensic health systems to assess and manage the impact of associated brain injury. This chapter summarises evidence indicating that the head injury is particularly prevalent in offenders, and that it is likely to be a causative factor that increases the risk of criminal behaviour. This is explained in relation to the neurobehavioural effects of head injury and characteristics of offenders with head injury, the impact of brain damage early in life and the high risk of multiple head injuries. The need to assess head injury at key points in the criminal justice system and means of doing so is given, together with a context of interventions, service need and directions for future research.

Keywords

Head InjuryBrain InjuryOffenderPrisonersGender
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology , pp. 442 - 455
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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