Childhood Trauma and Psychopathic Features Among Juvenile Offenders

• Author: Anne S. J. Farina,Michael G. Vaughn,Katherine J. Holzer,Matt DeLisi
• Published date: 01 October 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X18766491
• Date: 01 October 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

766491IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X18766491International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyFarina et al.
research-article2018
Article
International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Childhood Trauma and
Comparative Criminology
2018, Vol. 62(14) 4359 –4380
Psychopathic Features
© The Author(s) 2018
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Among Juvenile Offenders
https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X18766491
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X18766491
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo
Anne S. J. Farina1, Katherine J. Holzer1,
Matt DeLisi2, and Michael G. Vaughn1
Abstract
Despite growing interest in psychopathic personality features in juvenile offenders, few
studies have examined the relationship between childhood trauma and psychopathy.
The present study utilized two datasets: 253 adolescents in a residential facility for
juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania and 723 institutionalized delinquents in Missouri.
Zero-order correlations and linear regression techniques were employed for boys and
girls to examine the relationships between trauma, assessed using the Massachusetts
Youth Screening Instrument Version 2 (MAYSI-2) Traumatic Experiences Scale and
the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and psychopathy as measured by the
Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–
Short Form (PPI-SF). Results indicate that psychopathy is significantly correlated with
childhood trauma. For the Missouri data, trauma significantly predicted psychopathy
scores for both boys and girls. These results suggest that nuanced understanding of
traumatic history of these adolescents may not only be a pathway to psychopathy but
also a critical part of their overall assessment and treatment plan.
Keywords
psychopathy, trauma, childhood experiences, delinquency, gender
Introduction
Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a constellation of traits relating
to affective, interpersonal, and behavioral deficits, including narcissism, lack of
1Saint Louis University, MO, USA
2Iowa State University, IA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Anne S. J. Farina, School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis
University, 3550 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63103, USA.
Email: anne.farina@slu.edu

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International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 62(14)
empathy, and poor self-regulation and impulse control (Cleckley, 1941; DeLisi, 2016;
Hare, 1996; Hare & Neumann, 2008; Lynam & Widiger, 2007). Multitudinous studies
using data on adolescents, juvenile delinquents, or young adults from Belgium (Colins,
Damme, Andershed, Fanti, & DeLisi, 2017), Canada (Corrado, DeLisi, Hart, &
McCuish, 2015; Corrado, McCuish, Hart, & DeLisi, 2015; McCuish, Corrado, Hart, &
DeLisi, 2015), England (Piquero et al., 2012), Poland (Boduszek, Debowska, Dhingra,
& DeLisi, 2016), Portugal (Pechorro et al., 2014; Pechorro, Ray, Barroso, Maroco, &
Gonçalves, 2016), Sweden (Salihovic, Özdemir, & Kerr, 2014), and across the United
States (for reviews, see da Silva, Rijo, & Salekin, 2012; Salekin & Lynam, 2010;
Vaughn & Howard, 2005) have consistently shown that youth with greater psycho-
pathic traits tend to be among the most serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders.
Researchers posit that the interaction between various cognitive and behavioral symp-
toms of psychopathy can predict different offending trajectories among youth offend-
ers (Corrado, McCuish, Hart, & DeLisi, 2015; McCuish et al., 2015). For example,
youth who are restless, unreliable, and irresponsible as well as inattentive and inflex-
ible may be disinterested in school, allowing time to engage in antisocial activities.
Youth with behavioral symptoms of aggression and recklessness as well as cognitive
symptoms of intolerance and perceptions of others as potential threats are likely to
capitalize on offending opportunities, following a chronic trajectory of offending into
adulthood (Corrado, McCuish, Hart, & DeLisi, 2015). Similarly, psychopathic traits
among juvenile offenders, including lack of attachment and emotional instability, are
associated with involvement in the most violent offenses (McCuish et al., 2015).
The likelihood of treatment success for psychopathic offenders is controversial
(D’Silva, Duggan, & McCarthy, 2004; Reid & Gacono, 2000; Salekin, 2002). There
are widely held and disputed beliefs that psychopathic individuals are either immune
to treatment (Salekin, 2002) or in some cases, that treatment results in an increase of
psychopathy-related symptoms (D’Silva et al., 2004). Results of extensive literature
reviews, however, reveal little scientific basis for either of these assertions (D’Silva
et al., 2004; Salekin, 2002). Nevertheless, this ongoing controversy raises challenges
for desired outcomes of rehabilitation and ability to function in the outside world. This
understanding of the symptoms and behaviors related to psychopathy has profound
consequences for youth in residential facilities. Sentencing and treatment are some-
times based on the presence of psychopathy and may partially determine their punish-
ment, where they are sentenced or placed, and what services they will receive (Skeem,
Polaschek, Patrick, & Lilienfeld, 2011).
Although psychopathy has a voluminous research literature, the developmental
causes of psychopathic personality have been less extensively studied. In other words,
much less is known when psychopathy is the dependent variable. Additional study of
developmental factors associated with psychopathy will enhance our understanding of
origins of the symptoms, behaviors, and thought patterns of individuals, and will help
target treatment that is appropriate and effective (Forouzan & Nicholls, 2015). This is
important because research has emerged that suggests that psychopathy has multiple
etiologies (Waldman & Rhee, 2006); thus for some, early-life experiences are critical
for understanding the development of psychopathy. This has the potential to especially

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affect adolescents and challenge views that psychopathy is a static trait that cannot be
mollified. Accordingly, the current study focuses on adolescents to investigate the
association between trauma history and psychopathy, and better understand psychopa-
thy through a trauma lens.
Childhood trauma has been linked to antisocial personality disorder symptoms
(Bierer et al., 2003; Grover et al., 2007). Youth in juvenile justice settings often report
significant trauma histories (Abram et al., 2004; Cauffman, Feldman, Waterman, &
Steiner, 1998; DeLisi et al., 2017; Fox, Perez, Cass, Baglivio, & Epps, 2015; Morris
et al., 1995; Stokes, McCoy, Abram, Byck, & Teplin, 2015; Trulson, Haerle, Caudill,
& DeLisi, 2016; Vaughn, Freedenthal, Jenson, & Howard, 2007). They disproportion-
ately have been exposed to multiple forms of abuse and neglect, and these experiences
often have profound effects on their ability to function at home and at school (Choe,
Teplin, & Abram, 2008; Grisso & Barnum, 2006). For instance, Cima, Smeets, and
Jelicic (2008) found that prison inmates reported higher levels of traumatic youth
experiences than controls, and that certain traumatic childhood experiences seem to be
related to specific facets of psychopathy such as impulsive nonplanfulness, external
blame attribution, and low stress immunity. Several forms of trauma, including physi-
cal abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse, have been linked to
childhood conduct disorder and adult psychopathy among male offenders (Dargis,
Newman, & Koenigs, 2016).
There is evidence that traumatic experiences in childhood increase the odds of
exhibiting aggressive and “pathological” behavior, including more serious, violent,
and chronic forms of delinquent careers (Baglivio & Epps, 2016; Baglivio et al., 2014;
Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, & Epps, 2015; Fox et al., 2015). To illustrate, Nørbech,
Crittenden, and Hartmann (2013) documented a case study to explore whether the
dangerous behavior of psychopaths could be understood as the developmental out-
come of childhood adverse events. Moreover, their study highlighted that the lack of
established treatment guidelines causes challenges in providing services. There is a
tension in the judicial system between punishment and rehabilitation, and between the
safety of the community and concern for individuals, especially minors (Smithgall,
Cusick, & Griffin, 2013). Understanding behaviors through a trauma lens helps guide
this tension towards a system of rehabilitation and healing. As research continues to
demonstrate a strong connection between trauma and behavioral difficulties among
children, child-serving entities will continue to grapple with how to incorporate this
information into their practices by “accurately assess[ing] and identify[ing] trauma
and the associated symptoms” (Smithgall et al., 2013, p. 403). Thus, a trauma-informed
approach to assessment and treatment may help guide work with these individuals,
and provide a framework for policy at an organizational and societal level. Development
and evaluation of innovative and comprehensive interventions utilizing a trauma
framework have already begun with promising results, with services targeting all lev-
els of programming, including family-, group-, and individual-level interventions
(Kerig, 2012). The unifying theme of these interventions is that they utilize a trauma
lens, and that they see the...