NPR just ran the story "Study: Half Of Jailed NYC Youths Have Brain Injury"
The study found nearly 50 percent of both boys and girls reported traumatic brain injuries that resulted in a loss of consciousness, amnesia or both. And they said 55 percent of those injuries were caused by assaults.
An estimated 60 percent of adult prisoners have a brain injury, according to a study of prisoners in South Carolina.
There's nothing unexpected here. Youths mostly go to jail for violence. The more fights you get into, the more likely you are to be injured. I'd imagine that there's a far larger percentage of number of jailed youths with knife scars than those in school. That doesn't mean knife scars cause people to end up in prison.
There's nothing unexpected here. Youths mostly go to jail for violence. The more fights you get into, the more likely you are to be injured. I'd imagine that there's a far larger percentage of number of jailed youths with knife scars than those in school. That doesn't mean knife scars cause people to end up in prison.
I'm no neurologist, but i suspect that a brain injury might change your personality more than a scar from a knife fight, possibly making you more likely to engage in criminal behaviour.
I see no reason why a head injury shouldn't equally change a personality to become less criminal. Head injuries have completely unpredictable effects. My core point is that prisons are full of violent people, and violent people punch and receive more punches, therefore are more likely to have brain injuries.
Prisons were initially invented as correction facilities, rather than instruments of punishment. Before this, crime was mostly dealt with by physical punishment.
The study found nearly 50 percent of both boys and girls reported traumatic brain injuries that resulted in a loss of consciousness, amnesia or both. And they said 55 percent of those injuries were caused by assaults.
An estimated 60 percent of adult prisoners have a brain injury, according to a study of prisoners in South Carolina.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3045728...
The US justice system has become extreme in the pursuit of punishment vs treatment and rehabilitation.