ABI

• Frontal lobe damage


  Less control over impulses, more aggressive
• Frontal lobe damage


  Affects ability to consider alternative behaviours and think about consequences of aggression
• Brain injury


  Relationship between offending behaviour and damage to the brain
• Traumatic brain injury


  Occurs directly as a result of a trauma to the brain such as being involved in a car accident, falling or being assaulted
• Brain injury

  Can also be caused by long-term alcohol or drug abuse
• Alcohol


  Toxic effect on the Central Nervous System (CNS) and interferes with the absorption of vitamin B1 (thiamine), which is an important brain nutrient
• Drunkenness


  Can impair balance or decision-making, contributing to an increase in falls or accidents that injure the brain
• Acquired brain injuries (ABIs)

  Incidents resulting in brain damage eg falls or sporting accidents, cause the developing brain to misfire
• The brain is not fully mature until a person is in their mid-20s
• Cognitive abilities

  Impulse control and forward planning are among the last aspects of the brain to develop
• ABI


  Can potentially disrupt development = the individual fails to move beyond the reckless and risk-taking behaviour that is sometimes associated with childhood
• Injured brains


  May also destabilise mood, concentration and decision-making, making offending behaviour more likely
• 60% of the sample of 196 inmates from a single UK prison in 2010 recalled a history of one or more head injuries in their youth
• This group tended to be younger at the time of their first offence, recorded higher rates of reoffending, and spent more time in prison in the last 5 years than the rest of the sample
• Huw Williams et al (2010) suggested that these injuries affect development of temperament, temperance, social judgement and control impulses
• 8.8% of those who had experienced an ABI had committed a violent crime compared to 3% in a matched control group
• This suggests that physical trauma to the brain may be a precursor to violent crime
• Many offenders have a history of substance misuse, may have pre-existing personality disorders or have been exposed to violence as a child (SLT), all of which are known to increase criminality
• Kreutzer et al (1991) were unable to prove or disprove a cause and effect between traumatic brain injury and violence
• Most arrests occurred after use of alcohol or other drugs
• The study concluded that criminal behaviour might be a result of post-injury changes, including poor judgement
• Substance abuse, traumatic brain injury and crime were interconnected, however, they did not go as far as saying that brain injury causes criminality and violence
• Rather, they believed that substance abuse led to legal difficulties and traumatic brain injury
• Males are more at risk of ABI as they are more likely to engage in the kinds of physical behaviours - sport, fighting, horseplay - that bring these about, especially during youth
• Aaron Josef Hernandez was an American football tight end and convicted murderer who played in the National Football League for three seasons with the New England Patriots until his career came to an abrupt end after his arrest and conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd