More than 80% of adult male prisoners have had significant head injury – study

More than 80% of adult male prisoners in Scotland have a history of significant head injury, a study has found.

A team led by researchers at the University of Glasgow studied a representative sample of 286 adult male prisoners in Scottish jails, and found 86% had suffered significant head injury.

About 35% of male prisoners had experienced repeated head injuries over long periods of time.

Violence was found to be the most frequent cause, but many had injuries from other causes.

The study also looked at the impacts of head injuries on the lives of those affected.

Some 35% of those studied experienced disability linked with a significant head injury.

The researchers found associations between serious head injury and clinical anxiety and clinical depression, as well as “problematic” drug and alcohol use.

They also found an association between head injuries and difficulties with social relationships and poorer self-control, which they pointed out are risk factors for criminal behaviour.

They said prisoners who had experienced significant head injury were more likely than other prisoners to have had more arrests, charges and convictions and at younger ages, and to be at greater risk of involvement in violent crime and property offences.

Professor Tom McMillan, lead author of the study, said: “Our study reveals important new information on both the prevalence and the impacts of significant head injury in male offenders in Scotland, which builds on our previous findings about young male offenders and women offenders.

“Overall, our study shows that a history of repeated serious head injury is very common in adult males in prison, and is associated with a greater risk of crime, including violence.

“There is persisting disability associated with serious head injury in male prisoners that often affects social relationships and is linked with multiple health problems in this group.

“Our study indicates that head injury is part of a complex ‘weave’ of health morbidities in prisoners that needs to be considered holistically when providing support and developing interventions.”

The researchers described the study sample as “demographically representative” of the more than 8,000 adult male prisoners in Scotland – the group that makes up more than 90% of the prison population.

It is the third in a series of studies on head injuries among Scotland’s prisoners – previous studies looked at women and young males – and is part of a programme of work on head injury and the criminal justice system.

The work has led to the development of educational tools for prisoners about head injury and e-learning modules for staff, which are in production with NHS Education Scotland.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, was part funded by the Scottish Government.