Citation

Svingen E. Heliyon 2023; 9(7): e18381.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18381

PMID

37519662

PMCID

PMC10375856

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most commonly found disorder among the prison population; however, research has been slow to study it as a potential cause of crime. This review examines the neurophysiological changes in the organism associated with PTSD and connects them to crime and antisocial behaviour. Patients with PTSD suffer from a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system (SNS), an overactive amygdala that results in a hypoactive hypothalamic‒pituitary‒adrenal (HPA) axis, and a reduced hippocampal volume. All these features have been separately associated with aggressivity and antisocial behaviour; however, no consensus has been reached. Moreover, very little research has addressed the need to study the interaction between several stress-response systems. As a result, although there is some indication that patients with PTSD are probabilistically more likely to commit acts of crime, no conclusive results on the influence of PTSD on crime propensity can yet be drawn. Future research should address the interaction between the stress-response systems to understand the nature of antisocial behaviour and violence as well as to study any possible links between PTSD prevalence and possible unrest in prisons.

Language: en

Keywords

Crime; Amygdala; Autonomic nervous system; Hippocampus; Hypothalamic‒Pituitary‒Adrenal axis; Post-traumatic stress disorder