Credit: Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University researchers find a disproportionate number of inmates with violent offenses suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and alcohol use disorder, and published their findings in the
Journal of Criminal Psychology.
Alexa Barrett, clinical psychology master s student at WCU, and Al Kopak, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at WCU, discovered the combination of PTSD, PD and AUD significantly increased the likelihood of violent offenses while conducting research at three county detention centers in North Carolina.
Supported by a Summer Research Assistantship provided by the Graduate School, the purpose of this study was to detail the prevalence of PTSD in combination with PD and AUD to help inform practices designed to address violence in the understudied population of male jail detainees incarcerated in small local detention centers.
Three mental health conditions contribute to violent offenses, WCU study finds
WCU Stories January 27, 2021
Al Kopak
Western Carolina University researchers find a disproportionate number of inmates with violent offenses suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and alcohol use disorder, and published their findings in the Journal of Criminal Psychology.
Alexa Barrett, clinical psychology master’s student at WCU, and Al Kopak, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at WCU, discovered the combination of PTSD, PD and AUD significantly increased the likelihood of violent offenses while conducting research at three county detention centers in North Carolina.
Supported by a Summer Research Assistantship provided by the Graduate School, the