Judging the unseen: The impact of onset controllability in shaping perceptions of defendants with traumatic brain injury
Claire Williams, Inesa Ledovskyte
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been associated with increased risk of criminality, yet very little is known about how individuals with TBI may intersect with the adjudication phase of the criminal justice system. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct the first empirical investigation of how individuals with TBI are perceived within the context of a UK magistrates’ court.
Introduction
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been associated with increased risk of crime perpetration and criminality [1–4]. Fazel et al. [5] found that TBI leading to hospitalisation was associated with a threefold increase in the risk of violent crime compared to general population controls.
Materials and methods
Participants were drawn from the general adult population between 02/06/2022 and 26/04/2024 and were recruited from Prolific (www.Prolific.co), social media, and via a university subject pool system. Participants had to be at least 18 years of age, resident in the UK, and report English as their first language.
Results
Prior to examining the main effect of onset controllability on the dependent variables, the presence of possible confounding variables was considered. Proximity to (LOC), knowledge of (PBIM), and attitudes (BIAS) towards brain injury were explored to determine if they might influence the outcomes of interest.
Discussion
The overarching aim of the study was to explore how individuals with TBI are perceived within the context of a UK magistrates’ court, and how contextual information (i.e., onset controllability) about a defendant’s TBI may influence perceptions and sentencing-related recommendations. In contrast to prior research [45–47].
Conclusion
The present research represents the first empirical investigation of how contextual information (i.e., onset controllability) about a defendant’s TBI may influence perceptions and sentencing-related recommendations, providing novel insights about how individuals with brain injury may intersect with the adjudication phase of the CJS.
Citation: Williams C, Ledovskyte I (2025) Judging the unseen: The impact of onset controllability in shaping perceptions of defendants with traumatic brain injury. PLoS One 20(12): e0323637. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323637
Editor: Vincenzo Auriemma, University of Salerno, ITALY
Received: July 8, 2024; Accepted: November 19, 2025; Published: December 8, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Williams, Ledovskyte. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: The data file is available on the OSF: https://osf.io/ydc4p/?view_only=48523d0569e54d07928271b6669b5c4b.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
