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It's estimated that two million inmates in our country's prison system have had a brain injury.
So the question is can a traumatic brain injury really influence criminal behavior?
Sandee Mack recalls a happy childhood for her son Colin.
"Just a very friendly, well behaved child. I don't' think we ever really grounded him," said Sandee.
"I was pretty straight laced, tried my best at everything," said Colin.
But everything changed in September of 1998.
Colin was just fourteen years old when he was involved in a serious car accident, sustaining a traumatic brain injury.
Doctors say his recovery was nothing short of a miracle.
But Colin's family says he came home a very different person.
"There were definitely changes that we noticed right away. He was always outgoing, but his focus in life changed ..to partying and that sort of thing," said Sandee.
According to brain injury expert Ron Sasso, traumatic brain injuries often have the most notable effect on behaviors like impulse control and judgement.
"A person is more likely to act on something and later regret it. A person may fly into a rage more quickly, they don't have that impulse control to stop that. A person may make poor decisions and will lead to crime," said Sasso, Director at Community Transitions.
The brain trauma-crime link is a premise widely accepted and studied by those in medical and law enforcement communities.
Various studies indicate that anywhere between 25 to 80 % of the US prison population has a brain injury.
"There wasn't a whole lot of thought involved in whether I should or shouldn't do it," said Colin.
Since his injury, Colin estimates he's been arrested more than a dozen times for crimes like DUI, drug possession and theft.
"I knew it was against the law to go 60 down Jackson boulevard. I just did it, I didn't care. Total disregard for the law. I just stepped on the gas and then the chase began," said Colin.
"If a person is drinking and they already have a brain injury, judgment is going out the window. That happens times and time again," said Sasso.
While therapy can help brain injury victims control their impulses, Sasso says it's a life long struggle ... On a very slippery slope.
"If you didn't have someone there to guide you a little bit when you do do something wrong ... I could see someone definitely ending up in the prison system. I could see someone being homeless or worse and it wouldn't' take very long," said Sandee.
Colin has not had any contact with law enforcement for four years.
And for that, he credits his family's unwavering support.
But the larger issue remains: can the diagnosis and treatment of a traumatic brain injury curb a growing inmate population?'
"Part of the problem is if they were to assess every criminal for a brain injury, they would have to treat every criminal who has a brain injury...makes it very difficult when you look at the numbers," said Sasso.
Now a husband and father, Colin has accepted the cognitive and criminal consequences of his injury.
"I would say, that my daughter and my wife and all my family...wanting to be there. I definitely don't want to miss out on anything anymore than I already have," said Colin.
Although it costs between $13,000 to $30,000 dollars a year to house an inmate in South Dakota, the department of corrections does not screen incoming prisoners for existing traumatic brain injuries.
The US department of justice reports, alcohol is related to 50 % of all brain injury accidents.
And it's a factor in 50 % of offenses that land inmates in jail.
