Adverse Childhood Experiences and Criminal Extremity: New Evidence for Sexual Homicide

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with a wide range of behavioral, health, and psychiatric deficits and have recently been used to study the development of serious offending careers. Unfortunately, this research paradigm has largely ignored forensic populations. This study utilized the adverse childhood experiences framework to examine the associations between exposure to violence, victimization, and total adverse childhood experiences on sexual homicide using a sample of 616 incarcerated adult male sexual offenders from Canada 85 of whom committed sexual homicide. Epidemiological tables of odds revealed that a gradient of adverse childhood experiences was associated with sexual homicide, but that the most significant risks were for offenders who had the most extensive abuse histories. In adjusted models, exposure to violence, victimization, and total adverse childhood experiences increased the odds of sexual homicide by 334%, 249%, and 546%, respectively. These effects intensified in models adjusted for childhood enuresis, cruelty to animals, parental abandonment, deviant sexual behaviors, poor self-image, and sexual problems to 559%, 326%, and 849%, respectively. The adverse childhood experiences framework is a systematic way to organize the criminogenic developmental sequela in sexual homicide.

Adverse childhood experiences in a South Australian sample of young people in detention

“…The final aim of this study was to examine differences in the prevalence of ACEs among people with convictions for violent offences, sex offences and non-violent offences. Consistent with evidence that suggests higher ACE scores are associated with more serious offending patterns (DeLisi & Beauregard, 2018; Fox et al., 2015), the findings of this study lend further support to the role of ACEs in violent offending. Cumulative ACE scores were significantly higher among young people who had at least one conviction for a violent offence.…”

“…have also demonstrated that a higher prevalence of ACEs among juvenile offenders is not only associated with increased risk of recidivism (Craig, Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, & Epps, 2016; Wolff, Baglivio, & Piquero, 2017), but also with increased risk of suicide attempts (Perez, Jennings, Piquero, & Baglivio, 2016). Other research conducted in the United States has also demonstrated that a higher number of ACEs is associated with the perpetration of sexual homicide (DeLisi & Beauregard, 2018). This suggests that ACEs may be strongly associated with more serious criminal pathways, such as violent and chronic offending.…”

The Sexual Murderer Is a Distinct Type of Offender

“…In another study, Beauregard and Delisi (2018;see also DeLisi & Beauregard, 2018) compared the same three groups of offenders but this time on several developmental factors.…”

The dark figure of sexual offending: A replication and extension

“…These are sobering data for multiple reasons. There is a huge amount of evidence that sexual victimization is associated with subsequent internalizing disorders (Aday, Dye, & Kaiser, 2014;Kennedy & Prock, 2018;Turner, Finkelhor, & Ormrod, 2010), externalizing disorders (Miley, Fox, Muniz, Perkins, & DeLisi, 2020;Renner, Boel-Studt, & Whitney, 2018), impaired socioeconomic and social functioning (Hochstetler, DeLisi, Jones-Johnson, & Johnson, 2014;Kennedy & Prock, 2018), increased overall psychopathology (Najdowski & Ullman, 2009;Romano & De Luca, 2001), suicidal thoughts and behaviors (Aday et al, 2014), and, among males, becoming a sexual offender -567 (DeLisi & Beauregard, 2018;Drury, Elbert, & DeLisi, 2019;DeLisi, Kosloski, Vaughn, Caudill, & Trulson, 2014;Miley et al, 2020). Thus these victimizations are devastating to the victim and set into motion multiple, interrelated, immediate and long-term negative consequences.…”