NCJ Number
85691
Date Published
1982
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Recognizing that successful rehabilitation of offenders requires biological and psychosocial measures working together, this paper presents an approach for altering offender behavior, with emphasis on biological factors.
Abstract
The habitual offender is frequently found to be a biological maladapter. Such persons live trapped in patterns that keep their biology unsound, their lives unrewarding, and their positive potentials unfulfilled. Much unacceptable behavior can be altered through biochemical means. Faulty nourishment is probably the single most important variable contributing to body chemistry disturbance. Vitamin-mineral lacks may limit a person's perspectives and interfere with problemsolving. Reliable laboratory probes can be used to measure deviations in body chemistry and allergy. Reliable blood levels for vitamins and minerals can be obtained, and hair analysis can diagnose heavy metal toxicity. A blood ferritin value assists in determining the state of iron balance in the body, while the complete blood count provides a wealth of information when properly interpreted. The basic approach for treatment includes (1) the identification and management of the underlying biological deviations, (2) the maintenance of desirable biological functions long enough to permit revision of old patterns, (3) the establishment and supervision of a program of physical fitness, (4) the provision of psychosocial reinforcement, (5) education in self-analysis and body care, and (5) access to holistic medical care when functional aberrations arise. Twenty-nine references are provided.