Adverse Childhood Experiences, Commitment Offense, and Race/Ethnicity: Are the Effects Crime-, Race-, and Ethnicity-Specific?

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2017-03, Vol.14 (3), p.331
• Main Authors: DeLisi, Matt, Alcala, Justin, Kusow, Abdi, Hochstetler, Andy, Heirigs, Mark H, Caudill, Jonathan W, Trulson, Chad R, Baglivio, Michael T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse - psychology; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Adults; Adverse childhood experiences; African Americans; African Americans - psychology; African Americans - statistics & numerical data; Aggression; Antisocial behavior; Antisocial personality disorder; Antisocial Personality Disorder - epidemiology; Antisocial Personality Disorder - psychology; Behavior; Behavior problems; Child; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - psychology; Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Childhood; Childhood factors; Children; Crime; Crime - psychology; Crime - statistics & numerical data; Criminality; Criminals - psychology; Criminals - statistics & numerical data; Cross-Sectional Studies; Epidemiology; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Foster Home Care - psychology; Foster Home Care - statistics & numerical data; Health behavior; Health Surveys; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic Americans - psychology; Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data; Homicide; Humans; Juvenile delinquency; Juvenile Delinquency - psychology; Juvenile Delinquency - statistics & numerical data; Male; Mental disorders; Minority & ethnic groups; Prisoners - psychology; Prisoners - statistics & numerical data; Psychological aspects; Public health; Race; Risk Factors; Sex crimes; Sex Offenses - psychology; Sex Offenses - statistics & numerical data; Social behavior; Studies; Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; United States; Violence
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14030331

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with an array of health, psychiatric, and behavioral problems including antisocial behavior. Criminologists have recently utilized adverse childhood experiences as an organizing research framework and shown that adverse childhood experiences are associated with delinquency, violence, and more chronic/severe criminal careers. However, much less is known about adverse childhood experiences vis-à-vis specific forms of crime and whether the effects vary across race and ethnicity. Using a sample of 2520 male confined juvenile delinquents, the current study used epidemiological tables of odds (both unadjusted and adjusted for onset, total adjudications, and total out of home placements) to evaluate the significance of the number of adverse childhood experiences on commitment for homicide, sexual assault, and serious persons/property offending. The effects of adverse childhood experiences vary considerably across racial and ethnic groups and across offense types. Adverse childhood experiences are strongly and positively associated with sexual offending, but negatively associated with homicide and serious person/property offending. Differential effects of adverse childhood experiences were also seen among African Americans, Hispanics, and whites. Suggestions for future research to clarify the mechanisms by which adverse childhood experiences manifest in specific forms of criminal behavior are offered.