Traumatic brain injury of tangata ora (Māori ex-prisoners)

Abstract

International and New Zealand research states that high numbers of prisoners are suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Within Aotearoa, research affirms that the total incidence of TBI is higher among Māori than any other ethnic group. Over 30,000 Māori men and women are being monitored by the Department of Corrections within any one year. Over 60% of those being monitored are Maori despite being only 17% of the New Zealand population. We undertook qualitative research with 23 Māori men who were released from prison. We found high rates of TBI, which were commonly untreated. This research highlights the urgent need for the Department of Corrections to screen and find ways to treat these men and to do so in culturally appropriate ways. It also points to the need for a much broader community and services awareness of the issue.

Keywords

Māori Māori men traumatic brain injury wellness prisoners

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

ACC. (2006). Traumatic brain injury, diagnosis, acute management and rehabilitation. Evidence-based best practice guideline. Wellington, Accident Compensation Corporation.

American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. (1993). Definition of mild traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 8(3), 86–87.

Arciniegas

D. B.

Anderson

C. A.

Topkoff

McAllister

T. W.

(2005). Mild traumatic brain injury: A neuropsychiatric approach to diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Neuro-psychiatric Disease and Treatment, 1, 311–327.

Brown

(2015, March 8). Nearly all Denver jail inmates in high-risk unit have brain trauma. The Denver Post. Retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/2015/03/08/nearly-all-denver-jail-inmates-in-high-risk-unit-have-brain-trauma/

Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee, Te Ropu-Arotake Auau Mate o te Hunga Tamariki, Taiohi. (2013). Special report: Unintentional suffocation, foreign body inhalation and strangulation. Wellington, New Zealand: Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee.

Dawodu

T. S.

(2015, September 22). Traumatic brain injury (TBI): Definition and pathophysiology. Medscape. Retrieved from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/326510-overview?pa=CewPjsocvlOTVFUIfHGU6tuxBMkJACyoAMabFPKOPeSVN4u64bOagNv68EguW0iZyilAvqqtcd4zdFIOQhUj2nBa6qMPn9v9%2B17kWmU%2BiQA%3D

Dudley

Wilson

Barker-Collo

(2014). Cultural invisibility: Māori people with traumatic brain injury and their experiences of neuropsychological assessments. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 43(3), 14–21. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Cultural-Invisibility.pdf

Elder

(2012). Tuku iho, he tapu te upoko. From our ancestors, the head is sacred. Indigenous theory building and therapeutic framework development for Māori children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (Doctoral thesis). Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10179/4065

Feigin

V. L.

(2012, November 22). 36,000 New brain injuries in NZ each year, incidence at epidemic proportions. Auckland University of Technology News. Retrieved from http://www.news.aut.ac.nz/news/2012/november/36,000-new-brain-injuries-in-nz-each-year,-incidence-at-epidemic-proportions

10.

Feigin

V. L.

Theadom

Barker-Collo

Starkey

N. J.

McPherson

Kahan

. . . Ameratunga

(2013). Incidence of traumatic brain injury in New Zealand: A population-based study. The Lancet Neurology, 12, 53–64. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70262-4.

11.

Hwang

S. W.

Colantonio

Chiu

Tolomiczenko

Kiss

Cowan

Levinson

(2008). The effect of traumatic brain injury on the health of homeless people. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 179, 779–784. doi:10.1503/cmaj.080341

12.

Jenkins

Mountain

(2011). Traditional Maori parenting: An historical review of literature of traditional Maori child rearing practices in pre-European times [Monograph]. Retrieved from http://www.ririki.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/TradMaoriParenting.pdf

13.

Maté

(2012). Addiction: Childhood trauma, stress and the biology of addiction. Journal of Restorative Medicine, 1, 56–63.

14.

Ministry of Health. (2005). The health status of Māori male prisoners: Key results from the prisoner health survey 2005. Wellington, New Zealand: Author. Retrieved from http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/health-status-māori-male-prisoners-key-results-prisoner-health-survey-2005

15.

Morrell

R. F.

Merbitz

C. T.

Jain

. (1998). Traumatic brain injury in prisoners. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 27(3–4), 1–8.

16.

Perry

(2012, August 23). Integration principles of neurodevelopment into clinical practice. Presentation at Brainwave Trust, Wellington, New Zealand.

17.

Pihama

(2016, July 30). Faces of innocents: High rates of child abuse among Maori can be traced back to colonisation. Stuff. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/faces-of-innocents/82586709/faces-of-innocents-high-rates-of-child-abuse-among-maori-can-be-traced-back-to-colonisation-academic-says

18.

Savage

R. C.

(2012). The developing brain after TBI: Predicting long term deficits and service for children, adolescents and young adults. North American Brain Injury Society. Retrieved from http://www.internationalbrain.org/articles/the-developing-brain-after-tbi/

19.

Schofield

P. W.

Butler

T. B.

Hollis

S. J.

Smith

N. E.

Lee

S. J.

Kelso

W. M.

(2006). Traumatic brain injury among Australian prisoners: rates, recurrence and sequelae. Brain Injury, 20, 499–506.

20.

Slaughter

Fann

J. R.

Ehde

(2003). Traumatic brain injury in a county jail population: Prevalence, neuropsychological functioning and psychiatric disorders. Brain Injury, 17, 731–41.

21.

Stuff. (February 2017). Unprecedented Prisoner Increase Has Convicts In Close Quarters. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/89191888/unprecedented-prisoner-increase-has-dangerous-people-double-bunking

22.

Willer

Leddy

(2006). Management of concussion and post-concussion syndrome. Current Treatment Options in Neurology, 5, 415–426.