A Longitudinal Assessment of Head Injuries as a Source of Acquired Neuropsychological Deficits and the Implications for Criminal Persistence.

• NCJ Number: 254431
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Dated: 2019
• Author(s): Joseph A. Schwartz
• Date Published: 2019
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2007-MU-FX-0002
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the impact of head injuries on criminal persistence, using data from the Pathways to Desistance study (1,336 individuals across 84 months).

Abstract

Few studies have identified factors that may promote criminal persistence. One such influence may be acquired neuropsychological deficits, or subtle changes to brain structure or functioning stemming from detrimental experiences. Head injuries represent one source of acquired neuropsychological deficits that have been linked to increased levels of offending and are differentially concentrated within justice-involved populations. The results of multilevel longitudinal models used in the current study indicate that within-individual changes in head injury were associated with increases in self-reported offending, violent offending in particular. A less consistent pattern was observed for arrest and nonviolent offending, indicating that head injury may differentially impact specific forms of criminal persistence. These results provide preliminary evidence that suggests acquired neuropsychological deficits, and head injuries more directly, result in prolonged periods of criminal persistence. (publisher abstract modified)