Media portrayal of the “criminal,” whether referring to youth or adults, leaves little room for interpretation.  It is often forgotten that there is a person behind that label, an individual who was born, grew up and was shaped into the person that they became.  These criminals may also in fact be victims, which would have the potential to affect their thoughts, moods and brain chemistry.  The truth is that those who are involved in the criminal justice system are more likely than their peers to have been touched by childhood trauma.  In one study that compared incarcerated youth with area high school youth not involved in the justice system, 40 percent of the incarcerated youth were found to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), while only 23 percent of the general high school population received this diagnosis.(1)

Research from Dr. Bruce Perry and others suggests that trauma experienced early in life can affect the brain enough to alter future behaviors, making childhood trauma victims more likely to engage in criminal behavior.  In his latest book, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook, Perry highlights a number of children he has worked with whose experiences with trauma have affected their brains and their behavior.  Dr. Perry recently made an appearance at the WCCF-sponsored Child Policy Forum, where he spoke about his research surrounding brain development.  He argued that society is experiencing not only poverty in the economic sense, but on a much larger scale--a poverty of relationships.  He posits that current trends towards fewer caregivers and teachers per individual are not providing children with the positive emotional and physical stimulation that their brains need.  This is especially true with child trauma victims, and has a profound effect on brain growth.

What we are learning is that complex trauma, such as that which can be caused by abuse and neglect, experiencing or witnessing violence or sexual abuse, or the death of a loved one, can indeed change the developing brain.  Childhood trauma has been correlated with abnormal levels of cortisol, a hormone that deals with response to threats, memories of those threats, and resumption of non-stress status.(2)  Even neglect alone can impair brain development; when caregivers do not respond to a baby’s cry, the child begins to learn that he must fend for himself.(3)  The child learns to deal with stress by either being constantly hyper-vigilant or by dissociating from the outside world.(4)  Other behavioral outcomes include over-aggressive reactions to normal situations(5) and an inability to think about the future implications of one’s actions.(6)