Traumatic Brain Injury in Indiana's Correctional System: Prevalence and Recidivism

This article identified rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and recidivism among people incarcerated or exiting incarceration in Indiana using data from different sectors of the incarcerated population. This article was a collaboration between the rehabilitation hospital of Indiana and both the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) and the problem-solving courts of Marion County, resulting in two distinct screening samples. Participants in the IDOC sample (N = 2,791) were screened over a period of 2 years and 4 months. Participants in the specialty courts sample (N = 189) were screened between August and October 2016. The rates of moderate-to-severe TBI in the samples were highly variable and ranged from 13% to 86%, higher than in the general population. Recidivism rates for those with TBI were significantly higher than among participants without TBI at 6 and 12 months postrelease. Formerly incarcerated people from the IDOC sample reporting a moderate-to-severe TBI were nearly two times more likely to return to incarceration within 1 year of release.