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The Impact of Trauma on Juvenile Delinquency
When a child is exposed to trauma in the form of a dangerous or life-threatening experience, it can impact his or her development. Trauma can result from many events but often involves domestic violence, community violence, and sexual abuse. When children are exposed to trauma in their childhood, it can have long-lasting adverse effects that last into adulthood. The effects of trauma can be social, behavioral, and biological.
Children who’ve been traumatized may be more at risk for further victimization and juvenile delinquency, along with adult criminality. Depression, substance abuse, chronic disease, and poor school performance can also result from childhood trauma.
Read on as the Newport Beach juvenile criminal law attorney Katie Walsh explains more below.
Childhood Trauma Among Juvenile Justice Offenders
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has conducted many studies on how exposure to violence during childhood will affect a child. In one study, the University of Maryland researchers studied data gathered from 1,354 male and female participants over a 10-year period. The participants were serious youth offenders from Phoenix and Philadelphia who were between 14 and 17 at the time of the offense, which resulted in their incarceration.
The study found that these youth had witnessed and experienced high levels of violence. Approximately half of them had seen someone being shot, and 30% had witnessed someone being murdered. Paranoid ideation and hostility were strongly associated with exposure to violence. In the study, researchers divided the participants into four groups:
- Minimally exposed to violence
- Witnessed gun and non-gun-related violence
- Exposed to non-gun-related violence
- Exposed to gun and non-gun-related violence
Compared to participants who were minimally exposed to violence, all other groups scored higher for paranoid ideation, depression, hostility, and psychoticism.
Incarcerated Youth Are Exposed to Violence in Correctional Facilities
Many times, youth who are incarcerated are exposed to even more traumatic situations while they are incarcerated. Loyola University Chicago researchers found that 75% of study participants reported witnessing violent encounters between other correctional facility residents, and 17% reported that other residents had personally victimized them. Approximately 2/3 of the participants said they witnessed violence between staff and residents. Additionally, 10% reported that they’d been victimized by staff, and 5% reported that they’d been beaten by correctional facility staff.
Exposure to violence during adolescence significantly increased the juveniles’ risk of being re-arrested. Researchers also found that continued exposure to community violence during adolescence leads to higher re-offending levels during early adulthood. Adult re-offending is more likely when the adolescent offenders who experienced trauma exhibited a lack of emotion or used emotional detachment to self-protect from trauma.
Is Your Child Facing Charges in Orange County? We Can Help
Juveniles exposed to traumatic incidents are likelier to have behavioral problems and exhibit antisocial behavior. Juveniles exposed to continuous, severely traumatic incidents before and during incarceration may be more likely to re-offend as adults. If your child has been charged with a crime in Orange County, it’s essential that you work with an attorney who understands the impact of trauma on juvenile delinquency.
Contact the Law Office of Katie Walsh today to schedule a free case evaluation with an Orange County, CA, juvenile defense lawyer.