The Cycle of Violence Behind Bars: Traumatization and Institutional Misconduct Among Juvenile Delinquents in Confinement

Abstract

The prospective link between early life exposure to violence and victimization and subsequent antisocial behaviors is known as the cycle of violence. Although the cycle of violence has been linked to an array of behavioral and psychiatric outcomes, less is known about its relationship to compliance with the juvenile/criminal justice systems. Data from 813 confined delinquents selected from the California Youth Authority and the Traumatic Experiences scale from the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument Version 2 (MAYSI-2) were used to examine the cycle of violence and three forms of misconduct. After controlling for other 18 demographics, delinquent history, commitment offense type, and comorbid psychiatric symptoms that are consistent with the importation model of inmate behavior, the authors found that wards with greater exposure to early life trauma evinced more sexual misconduct, suicidal activity, and total misconduct reviewed by the parole board. Implications and discussion for future research are offered.

Group climate, personality, and self-reported aggression in incarcerated male youth

“…Some studies on aggression in youth prisons support a 'dispositional' or 'import' model, in which inmates' characteristics, such as a propensity to behave aggressively, cause aggression (Delisi et al, 2009;Van Nieuwenhuijzen et. al, 2006).…”

Perceptions of Recidivism Among Incarcerated Youth: The Relationship Between Exposure to Childhood Trauma, Mental Health Status, and the Protective Effect of Mental Health Services in Juvenile Justice Settings

“…It is not surprising that youth who have more anger are less likely to receive mental health services. Perhaps anger or the manifestations through externalizing behavior problems (DeLisi et al, 2009) warrants the use of control or force to mitigate problems (Day, 2002), rather than therapeutic responses; physical or psychological controls are common reactions by juvenile justice staff encountering anger and aggression (Hodge & Yoder, 2017;Mason & Magnan, 1995;Schwalbe & Maschi, 2011) and corresponds closely with the ideologies of juvenile justice -to remediate or control (Maschi et al, 2008).…”

“Sometimes One Does That With Blinders On”: Revisioning Care for Violent Girls

“…When a girl has a surrogate parent (e.g., an older sibling, as we describe in the case study of Harmony), she likely has a diffuse and unstable conceptualization of who, exactly, is there for her as her primary caregiver. Complexities of such distorted relationships fade to a backdrop, however, for girls who come to the system as violent offenders, as court and provider anxieties about the danger of further violence become the focus of punishment=treatment (DeLisi et al, 2010;Singer, 1996). In fact, the scaffolding that should support these girls through what is for any adolescent a precarious developmental passage is, itself, precarious.…”