THE ROLE OF HEAD-INJURY IN COGNITIVE-FUNCTIONING, EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

In two investigations, 50% of non-violent convicted felons, who avoide d incarceration by participating in a day reporting progranune, report ed a prior history of head injury and current problems in cognitive an d emotional functioning. Only 5% of a college sample in the first inve stigation and 15% of a community sample in the second investigation re ported prior head injury. In a third investigation, 83% of felons who had reported a history of head injury also reported a date for their h ead injury that preceded the dale of their first encounter with law en forcement. Some participants reported no trouble with the law until af ter experiencing a head injury that occurred in their late thirties. C onsidering the research reported here and elsewhere in the literature, it appears that many serious crimes follow a head injury. One implica tion of the findings reported here is that many crimes might not occur if people with head injury were given prompt and comprehensive treatm ent after the injury.