Traumatic brain injury and crime
Traumatic brain injury can make people less able to control their reactions, and is linked to crime. But should people with brain injuries be in prison? With Joshua Rozenberg.
Traumatic brain injury can cause neurological changes that make people more impulsive, less able to control their reactions, and less able to understand others. Therefore it's associated with violent crime. An estimated 60% of those in prison have a history of brain injury. But is prison the best place for them, and their rehabilitation? The criminal justice system is taking an ever greater interest in how to deal with traumatic brain injury. We hear about a Thames Valley Police pilot project to keep offenders out of prison, pre-sentence screening in the UK and elsewhere, and about an innovative court for those aged 18-25 in New Zealand.
Brain injury is as common among women prisoners, often due to a history of suffering domestic violence. For these women their injuries, compounded by other factors, lead to mental health issues so serious that it's estimated that three quarters of them have tried to take their own lives. What are prisons doing to help them? And what about women prisoners' additional burdens, such as anxiety about separation from their children, which affects them more than men? Can a new report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons point to ways forward for England and Wales?
Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Last on
Broadcasts
- Tue 8 Jun 2021 16:0091热爆 Radio 4
- Thu 10 Jun 2021 20:0091热爆 Radio 4
Download this programme
Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.
Podcast
-
The Law Show
Conversation about the laws making headlines, and the laws that shape everyday life.