@article{ref1,
title="Childhood trauma as a predictor of reoffending in a Northern Irish probation sample",
journal="Child abuse and neglect",
year="2019",
author="Dalsklev, Madeleine and Cunningham, Twylla and Travers, Áine and McDonagh, Tracey and Shannon, Ciaran and Downes, Ciara and Hanna, Donncha",
volume="97",
number="",
pages="e104168-e104168",
abstract="BACKGROUND: It is well-documented that there is a high prevalence rate of childhood trauma experiences among the prison population, and studies have found a link between childhood trauma and later acts of violence. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to investigate whether childhood trauma (i.e., physical, sexual, emotional abuse and physical neglect) among offenders who have served a life sentence in Northern Ireland was associated with general and violent reoffending patterns. The study also explored the relationship between childhood trauma resulting from the sectarian conflict &quot;The Troubles&quot; in the region and its impact on reoffending. <br><br>METHOD: The casefiles of 100 offenders were coded for trauma experiences and official reoffending data was extracted. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between trauma and reoffending. <br><br>RESULTS: The most common form of childhood trauma were emotional abuse and/or emotional neglect (n = 43), conflict-related trauma (n = 43) and physical abuse (n = 40). Only age (OR.91) and conflict-related trauma (OR 5.57) emerged as significant predictors (p < .05) of general reoffending at any time post release. Similarly, only age (OR.92) and conflict-related trauma (OR 4.57) emerged as significant predictors (p < .05) of violent reoffending. Although it did not reach significance (p = .09), childhood physical abuse was related to an increase in the odds of violently reoffending, of a large magnitude (OR 4.09). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Conflict-related trauma significantly predicted general and violent reoffending among offenders with previous violent convictions.<br><br>Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-2134",
doi="10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104168",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104168"
}