PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Sachiko Donley
AU  - Leah Habib
AU  - Tanja Jovanovic
AU  - Asante Kamkwalala
AU  - Mark Evces
AU  - Glenn Egan
AU  - Bekh Bradley
AU  - Kerry J. Ressler
TI  - Civilian PTSD Symptoms and Risk for Involvement in the Criminal Justice System
DP  - 2012 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 522--529
VI  - 40
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/40/4/522.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/40/4/522.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2012 Dec 01; 40
AB  - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has received considerable attention with regard to the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In studies of veterans, behavioral sequelae of PTSD can include hostile and violent behavior. Rates of PTSD found in impoverished, high-risk urban populations within U.S. inner cities are as high as in returning veterans. The objective of this study was to determine whether civilian PTSD is associated with increased risk of incarceration and charges related to violence in a low-income, urban population. Participants (n = 4,113) recruited from Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, completed self-report measures assessing history of trauma, PTSD symptoms, and incarceration. Both trauma exposure and civilian PTSD remained strongly associated with increased risk of involvement in the criminal justice system and charges of a violent offense, even after adjustment for sex, age, race, education, employment, income, and substance abuse in a regression model. Trauma and PTSD have important implications for public safety and recidivism.