Letter From Guest Editor

Published date01 January 2021
Date01 January 2021
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/1541204020939649
Subject MatterEditorial
Editorial
Letter From Guest Editor
Jessica M. Craig
1
When Editor Trulson asked me to guest edit a special issue of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice,
I took some time to reflect on how best to position my primary area of interest—developmental
criminology—within the scope of the journal’s focus. Some of the more recent work from this
paradigm has concentrated on the impact of early traumatic experiences on subsequent offending.
Indeed, scholars have demonstrated that those with a higher exposure to early trauma are more likely
to be violent juvenile offenders—one of the primary areas of attention for this journal. This special
issue thus represented a unique opportunity to ask several of my colleagues to contribute articles on
the theme Developmental Perspectives on Youth Violence: The Role of Trauma and Other Life
Experiences. I am extremely grateful to each of the authors who contributed to this special issue
and believe the work presented in this issue represent an important contribution to the field. The
studies are also representative of a wide variety of research designs as they include samples from the
US, Canada, and Australia and include not only non-experimental designs but randomized con-
trolled trials as well.
While most of the articles in this special issue focused on trauma as traditionally defined,
Cardwell and her colleagues focused on trauma not caused by one’s family but instead at the hands
of peers. Cardwell et al. studied the intersection between bully victimization and truancy on later
violent offending in the context of a randomized control trial of the Ability School Engagement
Program (ASEP) in Queensland, Australia. Prior research has found that bully victimization can
have similar impacts on mental health and behavioral outcomes and some argue being bullied should
be part of the ACE paradigm. This article represents an important extension of our understanding of
trauma to include school-based experiences, particularly given the significant association the
researchers found between bullying victimization and violent behavior.
Some of the articles in the current issue examined the relationship between Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs) and offending. First, Craig and Zettler relied upon a sample of institutionalized
serious adjudicated delinquents and found the impact of ACEs on violent offending differed by
offense type as well as the offender sex and race/ethnicity. For instance, while ACEs were found to
increase the likelihood of reoffending with sexual violence or domestic violence, it had no impact on
murder or aggravated assault. These results suggested the impact of trauma is not consistent across
groups and further research is needed to understand potential mechanisms in the ACE-offending
relationship.
1
Criminal Justice department, The University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
Corresponding Author:
Jessica M. Craig, Criminal Justice department, The University of North Texas, 410 S. Avenue C, Chilton Hall, 273L, Denton,
TX 76203, USA.
Email: jessica.craig@unt.edu
Youth Violence and JuvenileJustice
2021, Vol. 19(1) 3-4
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1541204020939649
journals.sagepub.com/home/yvj

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