Introduction to Part I: Trauma and Juvenile Delinquency: Dynamics and Developmental Mechanisms

Abstract

This article introduces the first part of a two-part special issue featuring new directions in research on traumatized youth in the juvenile justice system. The articles in this issue focus on research devoted to investigating the underlying development mechanisms accounting for the associations among exposure to traumatic events, posttraumatic stress reactions, and delinquent behavior. The articles in this issue advance our understanding of these questions by expanding the scope of research to include the study of complex trauma as well as the differentiation between primary psychopathic traits among youth versus secondary psychopathy borne of trauma. In addition, studies are included targeting specific theoretically-derived mediators of the relations between childhood adversity and delinquency, including depressive cognitions, as well as specific symptom clusters of posttraumatic stress. The remaining articles shed light on the differential roles that trauma and demographic factors play in predicting recidivism and mental health functioning among youth involved in the juvenile justice system, including gender, ethnicity, age, and sexual minority status. Taken together, these studies suggest important directions for the development of effective interventions to target trauma-related sequelae among troubled youth and their families.

Keywords:

• trauma
• delinquency
• mediators
• complex trauma
• gender
• posstraumatic stress