Women Living with a Traumatic Brain Injury in Prison;Self- and Public Stigma

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury has been referred to as a silent epidemic in correctional services and little is known about how women with traumatic brain injury experience stigma and the possible intersects of this with other aspects of their lives. This study explored the experience of women in prison living with a traumatic brain injury and the impact of internalized/self-stigma and stigma in the prison context (public stigma). Thirteen women in prison took part in semi-structured interviews. Three themes were generated through reflexive thematic analysis. The first two – psychological distress of living with a traumatic brain injury in prison and living in the system with invisible disability – set out contexts of self- and public stigma of traumatic brain injury, intersecting with the stigma of being a woman in prison and with trauma histories relating to injury cause. These are underpinned by the third theme, wanting to be understood. Self-stigma of women in prison with a traumatic brain injury is a barrier to support seeking and intersects with difficulties in talking about the traumatic circumstances that led to the injuries. Systemic responses to traumatic brain injury and trauma for women in prison are required to support risk reduction and mental health recovery.