Adverse Childhood Experiences of Violent Female Offenders: A Comparison of Homicide and Sexual Perpetrators

Pflugradt, Dawn; Allen, Bradley P.; Zintsmaster, Amanda J

doi:10.1177/0306624x17712966

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…For example, for obvious reasons, studies on intimate partner homicide (15, 16) have a higher prevalence of offenders within intimate partner relations/marriage. Further, there was also a high prevalence of adverse childhood experience and lifetime victimization within the total sample of female offenders, which likewise is consistent with prior research (20,26,27,29,31). In conclusion, regarding background factors, the results in the present study were in line with previous studies, and also merge previous disparate results.…”

Section: Background and Demographicssupporting

confidence: 93%

Lethal and severe violence: Characterizing Swedish female offenders with and without a severe mental disorder

et al. 2023

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AimIn studies on lethal and severe violence, male offenders have historically been in focus while female offenders, in comparison, have often been excluded. In this study, we aimed to characterize female violent offenders and compared those with and without a severe mental disorder (SMD).MethodAll females charged with lethal or attempted lethal violence, who had undergone forensic psychiatric investigations (FPI) in Sweden between 2000 and 2014, constituting the two groups SMD (n = 84) and no SMD (n = 91), were included. Information from their FPI reports and court verdicts was collected regarding background and demographics, mental health, substance use, and crime characteristics.ResultsOverall, both groups were often unemployed, previously victimized within close relations, had psychiatric health issues, and more than half of them had previously attempted suicide. Specifically, the SMD group more often had psychotic disorders, had attempted homicide-suicide (at the time of the crime), and had children or friends/acquaintances as victims. The no-SMD group more often manifested patterns of anxiety, personality disorders, and substance use disorders compared to the SMD group. The no-SMD group also differed from the SMD group by more often having a previous criminal record, being charged with lethal index violence, having male adult intimate partners/ex-intimate partners as victims who had abused the offender, and both offender and victim had more often been under the influence of a substance. ConclusionFemale offenders of lethal and severe violence had a high prevalence of previous violent victimization which should be considered in forensic assessment and treatment regardless of the offender’s SMD status. However, more focus on substance use disorders and intimate partner relations appears relevant for females without an SMD. Contrary to that, early interventions regarding psychotic processes are probably a helpful preventive measure for females with an SMD. In sum, the heterogeneity of female offenders of lethal and severe violence emphasizes the necessity of developing nuanced interventions to meet their rehabilitative needs as well as the requirements of community protection.

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Section: Background and Demographicssupporting

confidence: 93%

Lethal and severe violence: Characterizing Swedish female offenders with and without a severe mental disorder

et al. 2023

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“…In this study, we focus on murderous behaviors that involve some degree of premeditation and intention. However, the causes of murderous behaviors are complicated and include psychosocial and precipitating stressors (Marono et al, 2020); several studies have reported that adverse childhood experiences are associated with the risk of violent behavior and delinquency (DeLisi & Beauregard, 2018; Pflugradt et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Child Sexual Abuse Victimization and Murderous Behaviors and the Mediating Role of Psychological Adjustment among College Students in China

Yuan

Chang

et al. 2022

J Interpers Violence

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A history of child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a variety of psychological issues and conduct disorders in adolescents. However, little is known about the association between CSA and its characteristics and murderous behaviors in young adults. The purpose of this study was to examine this relationship and explore the mediating effect of psychological adjustment (PA). A cross-sectional study was conducted with 4034 college students in Anhui Province, China. The participants were invited to complete self-report questionnaires regarding the history of CSA, self-perceived PA and murderous behaviors. PA was evaluated by two of the most important indicators: resilience and emotional release. Mediation analyses were computed via parallel mediation models. Of the participants, 14.1% reported experiencing CSA. After controlling for potential confounders, CSA victimization was robustly and positively associated with murderous ideation (OR: 2.36, 95% CI: 1.77–3.14), murderous plans (OR: 4.02, 95% CI: 2.63–6.12), murderous preparation (OR: 3.87, 95% CI: 2.37–6.31), and murderous attempts (OR: 5.35, 95% CI: 3.11–9.21). CSA victimization that was persistent and of the combined contact or noncontact types greatly increased the risk of murderous behaviors. A dose–response relationship was observed between the duration of experienced CSA and murderous behaviors. Furthermore, the results of the mediation analysis revealed that PA partially mediated the relationship between CSA victimization and murderous behaviors. Therefore, PA protects against the development of murderous behaviors in abused individuals. These findings have important implications for the prevention and intervention of murderous behaviors in adolescents who experienced CSA, highlighting the importance of considering PA as a protective role in this relationship.

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“…Although the existing body of research suggests that child maltreatment and psychopathology play a role in female violent offending, there are a number of limitations that detract from our ability to draw firm conclusions. First, the majority of studies have been cross-sectional, relying heavily on retrospective self-reports of childhood victimization (Browne et al 1999;Harlow 1999;Lynch et al 2012;McClellan et al 1997;Pflugradt et al 2017;Zlotnick 1997), which is potentially problematic because of problems with forgetting, reconstruction of memory, and inconsistencies in reports over time (Brewin et al 1993;Henry et al 1994;Offer et al 2000;Schraedley et al 2002). Second, many studies (e.g., Ogloff et al 2012;Papalia et al 2017;Siegel and Williams, 2003;Trabold et al 2015) have focused on only one type of abuse (sexual), rather than multiple types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Abuse and Neglect, and Psychiatric Disorders in Nonviolent and Violent Female Offenders

Trauffer

Widom

2017

Violence and Gender

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Although the percentage of crimes committed by females has increased over the last 20 years in the United States, most research focuses on crimes by males. This article describes an examination of the extent to which childhood maltreatment predicts violent and nonviolent offending in females and the role of psychiatric disorders. Using data from a prospective cohort design study, girls with substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and neglect were matched with nonmaltreated girls (controls) on the basis of age, race, and approximate family socioeconomic class, and followed into adulthood ( = 582). Information was obtained from official arrest records and participant responses to a standardized structured psychiatric interview. Women with a history of any childhood maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were at significantly increased risk for having an arrest for violence, compared to control women. Except for those with a history of physical abuse, abused and neglected women were also at increased risk for arrest for a nonviolent crime, compared to controls. In bivariate chi-square comparisons, the three groups of women (violent offenders, nonviolent offenders, and nonoffenders) differed significantly in the diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and dysthymia, but not major depressive disorder, and violent female offenders had significantly higher rates of these disorders compared to nonoffenders. However, with controls for age and race, PTSD was the only psychiatric disorder to distinguish women arrested for a violent crime compared to a nonviolent crime (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 6.32, confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.84-21.68, < 0.01), and PTSD moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and violent offending (AOR = 5.55, 95% CI = 1.49-20.71): women with histories of childhood maltreatment were equally likely to have an arrest for violence, regardless of PTSD diagnosis, whereas having a diagnosis of PTSD increased the risk of violence for women without maltreatment histories. Together, these findings suggest two pathways to violent offending among females-one through childhood maltreatment and a second through PTSD. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences of Violent Female Offenders: A Comparison of Homicide and Sexual Perpetrators

Cited by 20 publications

References 42 publications

Lethal and severe violence: Characterizing Swedish female offenders with and without a severe mental disorder

Lethal and severe violence: Characterizing Swedish female offenders with and without a severe mental disorder

Association of Child Sexual Abuse Victimization and Murderous Behaviors and the Mediating Role of Psychological Adjustment among College Students in China

Child Abuse and Neglect, and Psychiatric Disorders in Nonviolent and Violent Female Offenders

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