Traumatic Brain Injury in Prisoners

Morrell, Robert F.; Merbitz, Charles T.; Jain, Shelley; Jain, Santosh

doi:10.1300/j076v27n03_01

Cited by 50 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…There are few estimates of the prevalence of head injury with loss of consciousness in the general population, but estimates in the literature range from 5 to 24 percent (McGuire, Burright, Williams & Donovick, 1998). The rates in this study were two to ten times higher, a finding that is consistent with previous research which has found that the rate of head injury with loss of consciousness is substantially higher among incarcerated populations (25-87%; Barnfield & Leathem, 1998;Morrell, Merbitz, Jain & Jain, 1998;Slaughter, Fann & Ehde, 2003;Schofield et al, 2006).…”

Section: Modified (Ace Sq-m) and Questions From The Personal Backgrousupporting

confidence: 89%

Risk Markers for Sexual Predation and Victimization in Prison

2009

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Our research was exploratory and sought for the first time to apply empirically validated static and dynamic risk makers for violence in the community to sexual predation and victimization in prisons. We conducted this exploration using five outcome measures including experiences of coerced sexuality while imprisoned as a perpetrator or victim, involvement in sexual exchanges that were based on bartering of goods or protection as either a perpetrator or victim, and consensual acts that occurred with other inmates or members of the correctional staff. We sought to identify the most relevant risk markers through a review of clinical violence risk research, criminological research concerning sexual violence in the community and in prison, and risk classification schemes for incarcerated men and women. This review directed us to the potential relevance of an array of risk factors that included early adverse life experiences; prior adolescent and domestic violence; criminality and prison violence; hyper-sexuality and impersonal sexuality; affective and cognitive states including anger, impulsivity and thoughts of harm; personality traits and disorders including psychopathy; extant risk instruments for violence including the COVR, HCR:20 and VRAG; and the social environment as reflected in the attitudes and behaviors of the correctional staff in each institution. Each of these domains of risk markers was examined in terms of its bivariate association with the various outcome measures and later entered into a multivariate classification analysis using Chi Square Automated Interaction Detector (CHAID). This analytic process resulted in the construction of nine valid conceptual models for predatory, victimized, bartered, and consensual sex in prison, each of which was different for the male and female inmates.The models were developed using a sample of 471 inmates (288 males/ 183 females) from two states. The models were characterized by good to excellent (.70 to.99) accuracy with high levels of sensitivity and relatively low levels of specificity. In developing our models, we found that male inmates engaged in more predatory, bartered, and consensual sex with visitors or staff while the female inmates engaged in more bartered and consensual sex with other inmates. However, these different types of sex were highly related suggesting that inmates who engage in one type of sex are far more likely to be involved in the other types of sex and that these inmates are different in many ways from inmates who adopt a largely asexual stance while incarcerated. Similarly, many of the risk makers for sex in prison have been previously identified as predicting violent behavior in the community. Inmates who experienced conduct problems as juveniles, had problems establishing relationship with others during adolescence, had a past history of early violence, and suffered from one or more of the Cluster B personality diagnoses tended to be more sexually active in prison. The HCR: 20 used to predict violence risk in the community ...

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Section: Modified (Ace Sq-m) and Questions From The Personal Backgrousupporting

confidence: 89%

Risk Markers for Sexual Predation and Victimization in Prison

2009

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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“…These rates are 5 or more times greater than the 8.5% lifetime prevalence rate of traumatic brain injury in the general population in the United States 29 and are within the range reported in studies of traumatic brain injury among prison inmates. 27,30,31 Only 2 previous studies have reported the prevalence of traumatic brain injury among homeless people. In a study of 80 consecutive entrants to a men's shelter in London, England, 46% of entrants had a lifetime history of head injury severe enough to cause unconsciousness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of traumatic brain injury on the health of homeless people

Hwang¹,

Colantonio²,

Chiu³

et al. 2008

Canadian Medical Association Journal

160

159

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CMAJ ResearchBackground: We sought to determine the lifetime prevalence of traumatic brain injury and its association with current health conditions in a representative sample of homeless people in Toronto, Ontario. Methods:We surveyed 601 men and 303 women at homeless shelters and meal programs in 2004-2005 (response rate 76%). We defined traumatic brain injury as any self-reported head injury that left the person dazed, confused, disoriented or unconscious. Injuries resulting in unconsciousness lasting 30 minutes or longer were defined as moderate or severe. We assessed mental health, alcohol and drug problems in the past 30 days using the Addiction Severity Index. Physical and mental health status was assessed using the SF-12 health survey. We examined associations between traumatic brain injury and health conditions. Results:The lifetime prevalence among homeless participants was 53% for any traumatic brain injury and 12% for moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. For 70% of respondents, their first traumatic brain injury occurred before the onset of homelessness. After adjustment for demographic characteristics and lifetime duration of homelessness, a history of moderate or severe traumatic brain injury was associated with significantly increased likelihood of seizures (odds ratio [OR] 3.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8 to 5.6), mental health problems (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.5 to 4.1), drug problems (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.5), poorer physical health status (-8.3 points, 95% CI -11.1 to -5.5) and poorer mental health status (-6.0 points, 95% CI -8.3 to -3.7).Interpretation: Prior traumatic brain injury is very common among homeless people and is associated with poorer health. Abstract

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“…Studies with much larger samples have also shown high rates, with 88% of a sample of 225 offenders (Diamond et al, 2007) and 82% of a sample of 200 offenders (Schofield et al, 2006) reporting a history of TBI. Another study that screened 1000 consecutively admitted offenders to a state prison found that 24.9% reported a history of at least one TBI (Morrell, Merbitz, Jain, & Jain, 1998). More recently, a meta-analysis was conducted that included data from 20 studies, including many of those described above, and estimated a TBI prevalence rate of 60.25% for the sample of 4,865 offenders .…”

Section: Prevalence In Incarcerated Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies used LOC as their method for classifying TBI (Rosenbaum et al, 1994;Morrell et al, 1998;Marsh & Martinovich, 2006), while others were not able to gather LOC data for the majority of their sample (Hawley & Maden, 2003;Colantonio et al, 2007). Some researchers created their own classification system to describe injury severity (Hawley & Maden, 2003: Turkstra et al, 2003 while others did not report severity levels (Sarapata et al, 1998;Brewer-Smyth et al, 2004).…”

Section: Traumatic Brain Injury (Tbi) Is a Significant Public Health mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research has been conducted with samples of federal prisoners (Diamond et al, 2007), state prisoners (Morrell et al, 1998), county jail inmates (Slaughter et al, 2003), offenders in the community (Sarapata et al, 1998), forensic psychiatric patients (Hawley & Maden, 2003), and inmates on death row (Lewis et al, 1986). The heterogeneity of these samples makes drawing overall…”

Section: Traumatic Brain Injury (Tbi) Is a Significant Public Health mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Traumatic Brain Injury and Executive Functioning in an Incarcerated Sample

Bernett¹,

Diamond²,

Melchert³

et al. 2013

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING IN AN INCARCERATED SAMPLEAbigail A. Bernett, M.A.Marquette University, 2012 Incarcerated adults in the United States represent a significant segment of the population, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in incarcerated populations has been identified as an area of public health concern. However, not much is known about it because research investigating TBI in incarcerated populations has focused primarily on its relationship to violent behavior. The existing research suggests that a history of TBI may be related to later violent behavior, criminal activity, mental health problems, and poorer institutional and community adjustment. Further, some of the cognitive deficits found in the general population following TBI, including executive dysfunction, have also been found in incarcerated populations. The purpose of the current study was to address a gap in the research by examining the relationship between TBI and executive functioning in a sample of adults incarcerated in the Federal Prison System. The study aimed to describe the neurocognitive functioning of the sample in the domains of IQ, executive functioning, verbal memory, attention, and motor skills. Further, hypotheses based on the theory of cognitive reserve were tested regarding the relationships between TBI, executive functioning, and institution behavior. Overall, the sample demonstrated average performance across the majority of cognitive domains tested. The range of scores in all domains spanned from profound impairment to superior performance. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to look for differences in executive functioning across varying levels of TBI severity, though no significant difference was found. Regression analyses found that lower cognitive reserve was associated with lower executive functioning, though structural equation modeling did not support a relationship between executive functioning and subsequent institutional behavior. Caveats in interpreting test scores, particularly in the domain of executive functioning, are discussed, along with possible explanations for differences in cognitive functioning across incarcerated subgroups. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that correctional institutions increase screening and cognitive testing of individuals who present with risk factors for possible executive dysfunction (e.g., history of violent offenses, TBI) in order to better classify the inmate population. Further, individualized treatment and the incorporation of programming that specifically targets executive dysfunction are recommended.

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Traumatic Brain Injury in Prisoners

Cited by 50 publications

References 10 publications

Risk Markers for Sexual Predation and Victimization in Prison

Risk Markers for Sexual Predation and Victimization in Prison

The effect of traumatic brain injury on the health of homeless people

Traumatic Brain Injury and Executive Functioning in an Incarcerated Sample

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