Almost all Pennsylvania state prisoners have experienced traumatic events in their lives, a new study concludes.
Eighty-five percent of the nearly 600 men who participated in the screening reported a wide range of crime-related events in their lives, such as robbery or home invasion, according to researcher Nancy Wolff of Rutgers University in New Jersey. Three-fourths of the men reported they had been physically or sexually abused.
“When I saw the numbers and I saw the prevalence of trauma overall, I was just blown away,” state Corrections Secretary John Wetzel told WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR News station. “I couldn’t believe that so many, such a high percentage of our offenders – so I called her up and said, ‘Are you sure about these numbers?’’’
He said screening men and providing correct treatment will reduce recidivism.
Wetzel said the state has done a better job of screening women prisoners for trauma.
“With men we haven’t really paid attention to that,” Wetzel added in an October interview. “Now that we have this study, it’s really looking at our trauma programs.”
The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.