Brain Injury as a Contributory Factor in Offending

Abstract

Explores the possible relationship between brain injury or damage, on the one hand, and offending, on the other. The present concern is with brain injury or damage or injury associated with anatomic disturbance of pathology. The thesis being examined is that among those who have suffered certain forms of brain damage, there may be an enhanced propensity to offend. The author explores three major lines of evidence that have a bearing on the issue: neuropsychological impairments, studies of offender populations, and clinically based studies. The author concludes, first, that certain forms of brain injury produce psychological changes which are likely to make individuals more likely to offend than would otherwise be the case. Second, selected offender groups, particularly violent offenders, are likely to have a raised prevalence of head injury and frontal lobe damage. Finally, there is psychophysical evidence that is consistent with the possibility of a temporal lobe disturbance in some offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved) (from the chapter)