Childhood trauma as correlate and predictor of violence risk and criminal justice recidivism among diverted adults with mental and addictive disorders

Little attention has focused on the impact of childhood trauma on current psychiatric, substance use and criminal justice status for a dually diagnosed severely mentally ill substance using criminal justice population, though this population is the focus of policies to increase access to and retention in treatment through diversion programs. Further, while studied in other populations, few studies have specifically evaluated the dually diagnosed male and female criminal justice population in terms of childhood trauma's contribution to the multiple psychopathologies common in this population or as a predictor for diversion outcomes. Results of 281 adults, participating in a comparative longitudinal mental health diversion study and initially housed in New York City jails, indicate that 59% of women and 34% of men experienced some form of childhood trauma; women were twice as likely to experience sexual abuse and emotional and physical neglect and to have experienced these subtypes of trauma in more severe degrees. Childhood trauma accounted for 5%-20% of variance in psychiatric symptoms, with gender and its interactions controlled. Additionally, sexual abuse independently predicted historical factors associated with risk for violent recidivism and drug abuse and emotional abuse independently predicted psychopathy, risk for violence and general life satisfaction. Prospectively, childhood trauma predicted criminal justice recidivism across diverted and non-diverted groups. Implications include the potential importance of childhood trauma in general, and the discrete types of abuse specifically, and suggest the need for integration of trauma assessment and treatment into interventions that target this population for mental health diversion.