Effects of Childhood Polyvictimization on Victimization in Juvenile Correctional Facilities: The Mediating Role of Trauma Symptomatology

Abstract

Polyvictimization refers to multiple forms of victimization experienced by youths. The extent to which aggregated or cumulative early life victimization increases risk of victimization within juvenile correctional facilities is unclear. Furthermore, pathways from early polyvictimization to facility victimization may be partly explained by trauma symptomatology. Drawing upon the extant polyvictimization literature, this study explores both composite and cumulative effects of childhood victimization on later victimization within correctional facilities and the mediating role of trauma symptomatology among a nationally representative sample of incarcerated youth. Data were drawn from the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement. Incarcerated youths (N ¼ 7,073) were surveyed on constructs including early victimization, trauma symptomatology, and experiences of victimization within correctional facilities. Using appropriate weights in analyses, structural equation models revealed the relationship between amassed early polyvictimization and composite facility victimization was partially explained by trauma symptoms; facility victimization also linked to trauma symptoms. Additional models revealed that as youths report more victimization experiences, there was a successive increased likelihood for trauma symptoms, facility robbery, and facility physical victimization. The relationships between cumulative early victimization and facility robbery, physical, and sexual victimization were partially or fully mediated by trauma symptoms. Research and practice implications are discussed.

Linking childhood trauma exposure to adolescent justice involvement: The concept of posttraumatic risk‐seeking

“…For example, Yeater, Montanaro, and Bryan () found that 66.7 percent of justice‐involved girls reported experiencing sexual revictimization over the course of two years. Further, in data drawn from a nationally representative sample of incarcerated youth, Yoder, Hodge, Ruch, and Dillard () found that trauma symptomatology mediated the association between past victimization and physical and sexual revictimization of youth while in detention. Importantly, studies have confirmed that sexually abused youth are at increased risk for engaging in unsafe sex, substance misuse, and attachments to abusive partners, all of which increase the danger of revictimization (Bramsen et al, ; Gidycz et al, ; Orcutt, Erickson, & Wolfe, ), and that this is especially true for girls and young women.…”

“…For traumatized adolescents, running away from home has been identified as a risky behavior associated particularly with the threat of revictimization (Haynie et al, ; Kim, Tajima, Herrenkohl, & Huang, ), particularly among traumatized girls in the justice system (Kerig & Schindler, ). Girls who flee abusive home lives by running away are vulnerable to a host of dangers on the streets, including commercial sexual exploitation and cooptation into participation in “survival crimes” that increase the risk not only for exposure to harm (Chesney‐Lind, Morash, & Stevens, ) but to juvenile arrest and incarceration in facilities where exposure to further victimization is prevalent (Dierkhising, Lane, & Natsuaki, ; Mendel, ; Yoder et al, ).…”

The Influence of Familial and Peer Social Support on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Black Girls in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

“…The results from this study suggest the need to confront the structures that foster violence through social domains, including associations with parents/caregivers, deviant peers, and their influence on PTSD symptoms. Specifically, other scholars have documented trauma and victimization within juvenile correctional facilities as an area of vital interest (Ford et al, 2013; Hodge & Yoder, 2017; Kerig, 2018; Yoder et al, 2019). Consequently, the trauma-offending link requires early and effective responses to trauma/victimization to halt future juvenile justice involvement (Yoder et al, 2019).…”

“…Similar to other research study findings, some girls sought out these peers for protection during a fight or other illegal activity (Jones, 2009). This further indicates a direct relationship between victimization (abuse/trauma) and offending among this population (McGee & Foriest, 2009;Yoder et al, 2019). Consequently, girls with trauma histories are more likely than their counterparts without such violent exposures to socialize with antisocial peer groups (Adams & East, 1999), thereby further exacerbating dangerous behaviors leading to trauma exposures and PTSD symptoms.…”

“…There is an established link between victimization and juvenile justice involvement among girls (Ford et al, 2013; Kerig, 2018; Yoder et al, 2019). In addition, childhood sexual and physical abuse and neglect often precede and are strongly correlated with offending behavior (Ryan et al, 2013).…”