Examining traumatic brain injury as a risk factor for violent offending: testing for cognitive and affective mediation

PurposeWhile prior research has established that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for violent offending, there is little understanding of mechanisms that may underpin this relationship. This is problematic, as a better understanding of these mechanisms could facilitate more effective ta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of criminal psychology Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 357 - 373
Main Author Wojciechowski, Thomas
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bingley Emerald Group Publishing Limited 29.10.2024
Subjects
Antisocial personality disorder
Behavior
Brain research
Child development
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive development
Dopamine
Hostility
Human subjects
Imbalance
Indirect effects
Offending
Psychopathology
Recidivism
Statistical significance
Traumatic brain injury
Violent offenders
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ISSN2009-3829
2049-9388
DOI10.1108/JCP-01-2024-0006

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Summary:PurposeWhile prior research has established that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for violent offending, there is little understanding of mechanisms that may underpin this relationship. This is problematic, as a better understanding of these mechanisms could facilitate more effective targeting of treatment. This study aims to address these gaps in the extant literature by examining TBI as a predictor of violent offending and test for mediation effects through cognitive constructs of dual systems imbalance and hostility among a sample of justice-involved youth (JIY).Design/methodology/approachThe Pathways to Desistance data were analyzed. The first three waves of this data set comprising the responses of 1,354 JIY were analyzed. Generalized structural equation modeling was used to test for direct and indirect effects of interest. A bootstrap resampling process was used to compute unbiased standard errors for determining the statistical significance of mediation effects.FindingsLifetime experience of TBI was associated with increased violent offending frequency at follow-up. Hostility significantly mediated this relationship, but dual systems imbalance did not. This indicated that programming focused on reducing hostility among JIY who have experienced TBI could aid in reducing violent recidivism rates.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this study was the first to identify significant mediation of the relationship between TBI and violent offending through hostility.
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ISSN:2009-3829
2049-9388
DOI:10.1108/JCP-01-2024-0006