Psychopathological Correlates of Polyvictimization in Young Offenders

• Date: 01 December 2016
• DOI: 10.1177/0093854816662678
• Published date: 01 December 2016
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2016, Vol. 43, No. 12, Decenber 2016, 1710 –1725.

DOI: 10.1177/0093854816662678

© 2016 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

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PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF

POLYVICTIMIZATION IN YOUNG OFFENDERS

MARÍA SOLEDAD ALVAREZ-LISTER

NOEMÍ PEREDA

GEORGINA GUILERA

University of Barcelona

Previous research has demonstrated a significant relationship between victimization and involvement in delinquency, but few

studies have focused on exploring the effects of victimization on young offenders. This study analyzed the relationship

between accumulated experiences of victimization, or polyvictimization, and the presence of psychopathology in 100 Spanish

offenders (81% males) aged 14 to 17 years (M = 16.08, SD = 0.99). By means of cluster analysis, three groups of polyvictim-

ized and two groups of less victimized offenders were identified. After controlling for demographic and criminal character-

istics, polyvictims were more likely to reach a clinical level (T ≥ 65) of externalizing behavior (odds ratio [OR] = 3.136) and

general impairment (OR = 2.878) than the remaining adolescents. These results showed that assessing multiple and less

common forms of victimization is an important task when evaluating adolescent offenders, as polyvictimization is highly

prevalent and places young people at a high risk of psychological impairment.

Keywords: victimization; polyvictimization; psychopathology; juvenile offenders; juvenile justice.

It has been widely claimed that there is an association between juvenile delinquency and

interpersonal victimization. Even though not every youth offender reported experiences

of victimization (Cuevas, Finkelhor, Turner, & Ormrod, 2007), the rates found in this group

are a particular cause for concern (Abram et al., 2004; Ford, Chapman, Mack, & Pearson,

2006; Ford, Elhai, Connor, & Frueh, 2010; Loeber, Kalb, & Huizinga, 2001). These rates

are even more disturbing when we consider that most of these children and adolescents are

exposed to multiple forms of interpersonal victimization, a phenomenon known as polyvic-

timization (Finkelhor, Ormrod, & Turner, 2007).

Whether due to victimization or not, more than 60% of young offenders have some type

of psychiatric disorder, a figure that is significantly higher than in the general adolescent

population (Croysdale, Drerup, Bewsey, & Hoffmann, 2008; Teplin, Abram, McClelland,

Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002). Few studies have linked victimization and mental health in

AUTHORS’ NOTE: This work was supported by General Direction of Penal Execution in the Community and

of Juvenile Justice [Direcció General d’Execució Penal a la Comunitat i de Justícia Juvenil] from the Catalan

Government [Generalitat de Catalunya], and the first author was supported by a PhD student fellowship from

Becas–Chile, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT). Correspondence con-

cerning this article should be addressed to María Soledad Álvarez-Lister, Department of Clinical Psychology

and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Passeig Vall d’Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; e-mail:

sole.alvarez@ub.edu.

662678CJBXXX10.1177/0093854816662678CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIORAlvarez-Lister et al. / PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF POLYVICTIMIZATION

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adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system (Croysdale et al., 2008; Ford, Grasso,

Hawke, & Chapman, 2013), and these studies have found higher rates of mental health

problems in young offender victims and polyvictims than in nonvictim juvenile offenders.

Considering that adolescent offenders are under the supervision of the juvenile justice sys-

tem, more research is needed to fully understand the associations between these variables in

this at-risk population. Accordingly, one of the main purposes of this study is to evaluate the

relationship between polyvictimization and psychopathology in young offenders in a south-

western European country.

VICTIMIZATION AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Research over the last decades has shown that juvenile offenders represent a highly trau-

matized group, with a history of life-threatening events and direct or indirect experiences of

interpersonal victimization (Ford et al., 2013; Ford, Hartman, Hawke, & Chapman, 2008;

Kilpatrick et al., 2003; Stimmel, Cruise, Ford, & Weiss, 2014). Studies of youth at detention

centers have found lifetime rates of traumatic events ranging from 58% (Ford et al., 2013)

to 90% (Abram et al., 2004; Ford et al., 2008). Between 28% (Ford et al., 2013; Ford et al.,

2008) and 50% (Croysdale et al., 2008) of youth have reported at least one form of victim-

ization. It has been established that adolescents may be exposed to victimization both before

and after their criminal behavior. Several studies have shown that victimization is more

likely to precede delinquency than to follow it (Cuevas et al., 2007), and in fact victimiza-

tion is considered a predisposing factor for delinquent behavior in adolescents (Finkelhor &

Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994; Stouthamer-Loeber, Loeber, Homish, & Wei, 2001). However,

delinquency has also been identified as a risk factor of future victimization (Loeber et al.,

2001; Shaffer & Ruback, 2002), due to the risky lifestyles of adolescent offenders (Cuevas

et al., 2007). Hence, victimization and delinquency are interconnected, and often mutually

stimulate each other (Loeber et al., 2001).

POLYVICTIMIZATION AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN JUVENILE

OFFENDERS

The combination of victimization and delinquency has been associated with increased

mental health problems. The study by Cuevas et al. (2007) with a young community sample

found that adolescents who had delinquent behavior and had also been victimized had more

mental health problems than those who had only suffered victimization and those who had

only engaged in delinquent behavior.

In the literature concerning juvenile justice, studies usually assess the more severe expe-

riences of victimization (such as child sexual abuse, neglect, and physical abuse) docu-

mented in official records, without considering their cumulative impact or the relationship

with other experiences. Lately, a more comprehensive perspective has begun to consider

less frequently studied forms of victimization and the incidence and impact of polyvictim-

ization (Finkelhor et al., 2007).

In this context, some recent studies, all conducted in the United States, have established

polyvictimization rates among youth offenders and have begun to report their associations

with externalizing and internalizing disorders. Ford et al. (2010) found that 35% of a national

sample of 4,023 adolescents who reported criminal behavior could be identified as polyvic-

tims, which is nearly 3 times higher than the estimated rates of polyvictimization recorded