2025考研英语同源外刊:脑损伤和犯罪的关系
A knock on the head can change the course of a whole life. Traumatic brain injuries affect around one in ten people in rich countries. Those who have experienced such injuries are more likely to suffer mental-health problems and loneliness. They are more likely to struggle with addiction to drink or drugs, or to be homeless. They are also more likely to commit crimes, including violent ones, although most do not.头部受伤可能改变整个生命轨迹。在富裕国家,大约十分之一的人受到创伤性脑损伤的影响。那些经历过这种伤害的人更有可能遭受心理健康问题和孤独感。他们更容易陷入酗酒、吸毒或无家可归的困境。他们也更有可能犯罪,包括暴力犯罪,尽管大多数人并非如此。
Estimates vary, but they consistently show that people in prison are many times more likely to have brain injuries (see International section). Those whose brains are not “neurotypical” in other ways also make up an extraordinarily large share of the prison population. People with learning difficulties, intellectual disabilities and autism are all over-represented behind bars. In Canada young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which is the result of exposure to alcohol in the womb and which damages the brain’s frontal lobe, are incarcerated at 19 times the rate of the wider population.
这些估计有所不同,但它们一致显示,监狱中的人患脑损伤的可能性要高出许多倍(请参阅国际部分)。在其他方面大脑“非典型”的人也占据了监狱人口的非常大的份额。在监狱中,学习困难、智力障碍和自闭症的人都过多地受到了代表。在加拿大,胎儿酒精谱系障碍患者中,由于在子宫中暴露于酒精而导致大脑额叶损伤的年轻人,其监禁率是整体人口的19倍。
A traumatic brain injury is caused by a blow to the head powerful enough to disrupt brain function. The most common causes are falls, fights, assaults and car accidents. The people most prone to suffering them are young men, especially poor ones. A child from a poor background is four times more likely to suffer a brain injury before the age of fifive than a child from a wealthy background. Even mild concussion can cause long-term damage.
创伤性脑损伤是由足以干扰大脑功能的头部打击引起的。最常见的原因是摔倒、打斗、袭击和车祸。最容易遭受这种损伤的人是年轻男性,尤其是贫困者。与富裕家庭的儿童相比,贫困背景的儿童在五岁之前患脑损伤的可能性要高四倍。甚至轻微的震荡也可能导致长期损伤。
Brain injuries can impair the way people think, experience emotions and control their own behaviour. Problems often occur when there is damage to the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with aggression and a lack of inhibition. Preventing brain injuries would avert much suffering, both directly (by reducing the number of people so impaired) and indirectly (by reducing the number who hurt others).
脑损伤可能影响人们思考的方式、体验情感和控制自己行为的能力。当前额叶受损时,问题通常会发生,这与攻击性和缺乏抑制力有关。预防脑损伤将避免很多痛苦,既直接(通过减少受影响者的数量),也间接(通过减少伤害他人者的数量)。
Education is a good place to start. Parents and children need to be taught about the risks, urged to wear bicycle helmets and deterred from drunk-driving. Schools and police should do more to curb violence—by far the main cause of traumatic brain injuries affecting women in prison is domestic abuse. Prevention policies would pay for themselves, because brain injuries are expensive.
教育是一个很好的起点。父母和孩子需要了解风险,并被敦促戴自行车头盔并避免酒后驾驶。学校和警察应该更努力地遏制暴力,因为影响监狱中妇女的创伤性脑损伤的主要原因是家庭虐待。预防政策将是自给自足的,因为脑损伤是昂贵的。
In Britain the average lifetime cost of one in a 15-year-old who goes on to offend is estimated to be around £345,000 ($475,000). Not all injuries can be averted, of course. So more help is needed for those who suffer them. Most important such injuries need to be identifified earlier, especially in children, and teenagers. Hospitals need to try harder to spot and report brain trauma in children who show up with other injuries, and to ensure that they receive follow-up care. In the most neglected schoolchildren, screening might catch injuries.
在英国,一个15岁并在之后犯罪的人的平均终身成本估计约为345,000英镑(475,000美元)。当然,并非所有的伤害都能避免。因此,对于那些遭受伤害的人,需要更多的帮助。最重要的是,这类伤害需要更早地被识别出来,特别是在儿童和青少年中。医院需要更努力地发现和报告那些出现其他伤害症状的儿童的脑创伤,并确保他们接受后续治疗。在被忽视的学童中,筛查可能会发现伤害。
Once identifified, they can be treated—sometimes with medication (such as stimulants for cognitive functioning and fatigue), most often with neuro-rehabilitation. Physical, speech and occupational therapies can help people to regain lost functions, learn new skills and overcome difficulties with attention and impulse control. Psychological support can help them control their emotions. And those who end up in prison need help turning their lives around.
一旦被识别出来,它们可以得到治疗,有时可以通过药物治疗(例如用于认知功能和疲劳的兴奋剂),最常见的是通过神经康复。物理、语言和职业疗法可以帮助人们恢复失去的功能,学习新技能,并克服注意力和冲动控制的困难。心理支持可以帮助他们控制情绪。而那些最终进入监狱的人需要帮助他们改变生活。
From April, British prisons will have to screen all inmates who have experienced domestic violence for brain injuries. Such screening should be extended to all prisoners. It would enable staff to identify those whose brains have been damaged and offer them appropriate support. Those with the most severe brain injuries should probably not be in prison at all. Mental-health courts in parts of America have done a good job of diverting prisoners away from jail and into places where their mental-health problems can be treated. For many such people, neuro-rehabilitation centres would be cheaper than prison and better at reducing recidivism.
从4月开始,英国监狱将不得不为所有经历过家庭暴力的囚犯进行脑损伤筛查。这种筛查应该扩大到所有囚犯。它将使工作人员能够识别那些大脑受损的人,并为他们提供适当的支持。那些患有最严重脑损伤的人可能根本不应该在监狱里。美国部分地区的精神健康法庭在将囚犯从监狱转移到可以治疗其精神健康问题的地方方面做得不错。对于许多这样的人来说,神经康复中心可能比监狱更便宜,而且更有助于减少再犯。
Acknowledging the link between brain injuries and criminal behaviour is not to excuse lawbreaking. Most people with such injuries are capable of taking responsibility for their actions. However, it is easier to curb crime if you understand the factors that make it more likely, of which neurodisabilities are an important and neglected one. More research is needed, but it is striking that offenders with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who take their medication are a third less likely to reoffend than those who do not. Punishing people without also offering them the help they need is short-sighted and wrong.
承认脑损伤与犯罪行为之间的联系并不是为了辩解违法行为。大多数患有这种伤害的人都有责任为他们的行为负责。然而,如果了解使犯罪更有可能的因素,尤其是神经功能障碍是一个重要而被忽视的因素,那么遏制犯罪就会更容易。需要进行更多的研究,但引人注目的是,患有注意力缺陷多动障碍并服药的罪犯再犯的可能性要低三分之一,而不服药的罪犯。对人们进行惩罚而不提供他们需要的帮助是短视而错误的。
重点词汇:
1. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):创伤性脑损伤
A knock on the head can result in a traumatic brain injury, affecting cognitive functions.
2. Neurotypical:神经类型正常的
People with brains that are not neurotypical may face challenges in various aspects of life.
3. Inhibition:抑制
Damage to the prefrontal cortex can lead to a lack of inhibition, affecting impulse control.
4. Avert:避免
Preventing brain injuries can avert significant suffering and reduce the societal impact.
5. Recidivism: 再犯
Neuro-rehabilitation centers may be more effective at reducing recidivism among individuals with brain injuries.
6. Screening:筛查
Prisons are implementing screening measures to identify inmates with a history of traumatic brain injuries.
7. Short-sighted:短视的
Punishing individuals without offering necessary help is a short-sighted approach to addressing criminal behavior.
长难句翻译:
Acknowledging the link between brain injuries and criminal behavior is not to excuse lawbreaking. Most people with such injuries are capable of taking responsibility for their actions. However, it is easier to curb crime if you understand the factors that make it more likely, of which neurodisabilities are an important and neglected one.
承认脑损伤与犯罪行为之间的联系并不是为了宽恕违法行为。大多数患有这类伤害的人有能力对自己的行为负责。然而,如果你了解使犯罪更有可能发生的因素,其中神经残疾是一个重要而被忽视的因素,那么遏制犯罪就会更容易。
综上是“2025考研英语同源外刊:脑损伤和犯罪的关系”,希望对备战2025考研考生们有所帮助!让我们乘风破浪,终抵彼岸,考研加油!