Violence in deaf and hard-of-hearing people: A review of the literature

The few available studies on the relationship of heaving loss to violence indicate that the prevalence of brain damage learning disability, communication disorders, educational retardation, unemployment, and underemployment in the deaf and hard-of-hearing population creates frustration which fends to manifest in disproportionate aggression, violence, and hostility. Relative to prevalence, hearing-impaired people are overly represented in the prison population, which is the major datum the literature on violence and heaving loss yields. Other than 12 studies and an American Speech and Hearing Association Committee report documenting the fact, there is an amazing paucity of literature on hearing loss and violence. The reasons for this deficit of information are discussed and ways to remediate the problem are suggested. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.