By: Royal Holloway
February 5, 2019
On 6 February, The Disabilities Trust, in collaboration with Royal Holloway, University of London, will launch the results of the first study of its kind into brain injury in female offenders and how a support pathway can be put in place to manage the health, cognitive and behavioural issues which may impact on likelihood of reoffending.
Ana Jablonska, Emily Glorney and Serena Wright
This was funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust and The Pilgrim Trust.
A follow-on study by The Disabilities Trust, examined the prevalence of brain injury within HMP/Young offenders Institute (YOI) Drake Hall and found that of the 173 women they screened using the Brain Injury Screening Index, 64% reported a history indicative of a brain injury and of those, 96% reported a history indicative of a traumatic brain injury.
It is widely acknowledged that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is over-represented in prison populations, with the likelihood of increased risk of violence, earlier age of first incarceration, a greater number of convictions, re-conviction, mental health problems and a greater number of attempts at suicide.