Do Prior Trauma and Victimization Predict Weapon Carrying Among Delinquent Youth?

• Author: Matthew O. Howard,Lisa Harper-Chang,Michael G. Vaughn
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204006292665
• Published date: 01 October 2006
• Date: 01 October 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

DO PRIOR TRAUMA AND VICTIMIZATION
PREDICT WEAPON CARRYING AMONG
DELINQUENT YOUTH?
Michael G. Vaughn
University of Pittsburgh
Matthew O. Howard
University of Michigan
Lisa Harper-Chang
Washington University
This investigation tested whether weapon carrying is a response to a perceived threat
posed by prior victimization and traumatic experiences in a state population of incar-
cerated youth. Structured interviews of 723 youth (age M = 15.5, SD = 1.23; 87% male)
residing in all Missouri Division of Youth Services facilities were conducted.
Multivariate analyses revealed that although prior victimization and trauma did
increase the likelihood of weapon carrying, the probability of weapon carrying was
higher with respect to gang fighting and polysubstance use. And although prior victim-
ization and trauma did possess incremental validity in predicting weapon carrying, hav-
ing been in a gang fight and lifetime polysubstance use were more potent predictors of
weapon carrying. Results provide clear social policy implications in that strategies
capable of reducing gang involvement and substance abuse may in turn interrupt the
cycle of violence via the mechanism of weapon carrying reduction in high-risk youth.
Keywords:
weapon carrying; youth violence; delinquency; trauma; victimization
Concerns about violence stemming from the use of firearms and other illegal weapons
among youth are well founded. Although the prevalence of weapon carrying declined among
high school students between 1991 (26.1%) and 2003 (17.1%; Brener, Lowry, Barrios, Simon,
& Eaton, 2004), research indicates that juveniles continued to have easy access to firearms and
that youth involved in delinquent acts are more likely to carry weapons than are nondelinquent
youth (Brown, 2004). Furthermore, the United States has annual youth homicide rates that
exceed the combined rates of the 23 wealthiest countries (Blum, 2001). Given these numbers
and the relatively high percentages of youth who carry a weapon while at school (DuRant,
Krowchuk, Kreiter, Sinal, & Woods, 1999; Forrest, Zychowski, Stuhldreher, & Ryan, 2000;
Malecki & Demaray, 2003), research on the causes of weapon carrying possesses important
prevention and intervention implications for interrupting the cycle of violence among youth.
Demographic Patterns
Although a number of correlates have been identified, relatively little is known about
factors that drive some youth to carry weapons and not others. Studies of weapon carrying
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Vol. 4 No. 4, October 2006 314-327
DOI: 10.1177/1541204006292665
© 2006 Sage Publications
314

---

Vaughn et al. / WEAPON CARRYING AMONG DELINQUENT YOUTH
315
show that males are more likely than females to carry weapons (Bailey, Flewelling, &
Rosenbaum, 1997; Simon, Dent, & Sussman, 1997; Steinman & Zimmerman, 2003). There
is also evidence suggesting that weapon choice is influenced by gender with men more likely
to carry guns and women more apt to carry knives or mace (Jardack, Pare, Kachur, &
Zenilman, 2000). African Americans and Latinos are more likely to carry weapons compared
with Whites (DuRant et al., 1999). Ethnic differences in weapon carrying may reflect geo-
graphic differences as youth from urban settings, where African Americans and Latinos
constitute a relatively greater proportion of the population, report higher levels of weapon
carrying than do youth from suburban and small-town areas (e.g., Steinman & Zimmerman,
2003; Vaughan et al., 1996). Potentially complicating the interpretation of these findings is
the observation that rural and small-town youth may be more likely to report carrying
weapons that are used to hunt and shoot for recreational purposes (Dixie et al., 2002).
Psychosocial Risk Factors
Behavioral and interpersonal variables have also been found to be associated with
weapon carrying. These variables include gang affiliation, peer misbehavior, marijuana and
other drug use, selling drugs, physical fighting, sexual activity, and low levels of family
attachment and perceived social support. Being a member of a gang has predicted weapon
carrying in several studies (Bjerregaard & Lizotte, 1995; Furlong & Morrison, 2000; Simon
et al., 1997) and victimization by a firearm (Decker, Pennell, & Caldwell, 1997). The
involvement of gangs in selling drugs and its associated physical and instrumental aggres-
sion, and the need for self-protection, were primary determinants of weapon carrying among
gang-involved youth (Simon, Crosby, & Dahlberg, 1999). This is consistent with the drug-
gun diffusion hypothesis that contends that youth violence driven by widespread gun use
stems from the violent nature of inner-city drug markets, particularly those associated with
the sale of crack cocaine (e.g., Blumstein & Wallman, 2000). Peer misbehavior (nongang)
and substance use, particularly the selling of drugs, is associated with carrying weapons. In
turn, the relationship between peer problem behavior and drug use, as with heightened sexual
activity, is predictive of weapon carrying (Kulig, Valentine, Griffith, & Ruthazer, 1998;
Myers, McGrady, Marrow, & Mueller, 1997; Valois & McKewon, 1998). Specifically,
research is documenting a pathway between the use of marijuana among African Americans
and the carrying of weapons (Estell, Farmer, Cairns, & Clemmer, 2003; Kulig et al., 1998).
Youth who report lower levels of family attachment and perceived social support are more
likely to carry a weapon (Bailey et al., 1997; Malecki & Demaray, 2003). This is thought to
be because of the importance that interpersonal social networks—parents, caregivers,
friends, teachers, coaches—play in exerting positive control and attachments. Overall, find-
ings are revealing that multiple pathways exist to the carrying of weapons and that these
pathways are interrelated.
Theoretical Frameworks
One of the key questions in the literature on weapon carrying among youth is
whether weapon carrying should be regarded as defensive behavior aimed at self-protection
or as part of an externalizing problem behavior spectrum expressed as criminal activity
(DuRant, Getts, Cadenhead, & Woods, 1995). These competing conceptualizations are not
mutually exclusive, yet the relative research support for either may indicate different pre-
vention and intervention targets. Weapon carrying as a real or perceived response to threat

---

316
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
shaped by prior victimization and traumatic experiences can be considered as a form of
self-protection. Research related to threat perception stemming from prior victimization
and trauma has shown higher levels of threat perception in children witnessing domestic
violence (Coyne, Barrett, & Duffy, 2000). Evidence of self-protective behavior manifested
by carrying weapons was found in two studies. The first study demonstrated that feeling
vulnerable to victimization increased weapon carrying (Simon et al., 1997), and the sec-
ond showed that having a family member who had been shot increased weapon carrying
(Vaughan et al., 1996). Not all studies have found an association between prior victimiza-
tion and fear for personal safety as leading to weapon carrying. In a study of 1,503 seventh
and eighth graders, Bailey et al. (1997) were unable to establish a link between past vic-
timization experiences and current weapon carrying.
The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) to evaluate patterns of weapon
carrying in a state population of residential youth referred by juvenile court with respect
to overall prevalence and by demographic factors and (b) to test whether weapon carrying
may be a response to heightened threat perceptions attributable to prior victimization and
traumatic experiences. Specifically, we hypothesize that the likelihood of weapon carrying
will increase as past victimization and traumatic experiences increase while controlling for
demographic and mental health variables, substance use, and gang-related fighting. Most
samples involved in studies of weapon carrying among youth have been in school or com-
munity-based settings (e.g., Malecki & Demaray, 2003; Myers et al., 1997). Few investi-
gations have studied whole populations of residentially incarcerated youth. It is expected
that there will be a higher base rate of lifetime, episodic, and persistent weapon carrying
in this population. This study will add to the evidence base by examining the relative
weight that either self-protective behavior—stemming from prior victimization and
trauma—versus externalizing or overt delinquent behaviors in the form of lifetime poly-
substance use and gang-related fighting have on carrying weapons among at-risk youth.
Method
Study Overview and Procedures
Residential rehabilitation services of the Missouri Division of Youth Services (DYS)
are provided at 27 facilities administered by five regional offices. Facilities range in size from
8 to 102 beds, with an average of 27 beds per facility. DYS is the legal guardian of all resi-
dents who are committed to its care by the state’s 45 juvenile courts. The DYS population is
representative of incarcerated youth nationally with regard to the average age and gender dis-
tribution of offenders, percentage delinquent versus status offenders, and number of state
youth currently incarcerated per 100,000 adolescents (Sickmund, 2004; Snyder, 1998). In
2002, 10.0% of youth were committed for Class A or B felonies, 42.0% were committed for
less serious Class C or D felonies, 40.0% were committed for misdemeanors, and 8.0% were
committed for status offenses...