The Racial and Gender Differences in the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Juvenile Residential Placement

• Author: Nathan Epps,Jessica M. Craig,Michael Baglivio,Kevin Wolff,Haley R. Zettler
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204017698213
• Published date: 01 July 2018
• Date: 01 July 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
2018, Vol. 16(3) 319-337
The Racial and Gender
ª The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1541204017698213
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of Adverse Childhood
Experiences on Juvenile
Residential Placement
Haley R. Zettler1, Kevin Wolff2, Michael Baglivio3,
Jessica M. Craig4, and Nathan Epps5
Abstract
Research has demonstrated a relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and a
variety of juvenile offending outcomes. No study to date, however, has examined the relationship
between ACEs and juvenile residential placement. The current study utilized a large sample of 4,733
adjudicated juveniles in Florida in order to examine the relationship between ACEs and residential
placement across gender and race/ethnicity. For the entire study sample, ACEs significantly
increased the odds of residential placement by age 17. For males, ACEs significantly increased the
odds of residential placement for Black and Hispanic males but had a null effect on White males. For
females, ACEs were predictive of residential placement for Black females but not for White or
Hispanic females. Consistent predictors of residential placement across demographic groups
included the presence of antisocial peers, substance abuse issues, and anger problems.
Keywords
residential placement, juvenile corrections, adverse childhood experiences, trauma
Prior research has consistently found evidence of a relationship between adverse childhood experi-
ences (ACEs) and various juvenile offending outcomes (Baglivio et al., 2014; Baglivio, Wolff,
Piquero, & Epps, 2015; Craig, Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, & Epps, 2016; Fox, Perez, Cass, Baglivio,
& Epps, 2015; Wolff, Baglivio, & Piquero, 2015). These recent efforts have concluded that juveniles
who have exposure to more ACEs are more likely to be serious, violent, and chronic (SVC)
1 Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
2 Department of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA
3 Research and Program Development, G4S Youth Services, LLC, Tampa, FL, USA
4 Department of Criminal Justice, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA
5 Bureau of Research and Data Integrity, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Corresponding Author:
Haley R. Zettler, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Memphis, 311 McCord Hall, Memphis, TN
38152, USA.
Email: hzettler@memphis.edu

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Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 16(3)
offenders that pose a higher risk of recidivism (Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, et al., 2015; Fox et al.,
2015; Wolff et al., 2015). With a large number of youth involved in the juvenile justice system, it is
necessary to examine the role that ACEs may have on an array of juvenile justice outcomes,
including residential placement.
A recent census by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention estimated that
54,148 juvenile offenders were held in state residential facilities (Hockenberry, 2016). Closer
examinations of this offending population have found that committed juveniles may have high
occurrences of family dysfunction, prior trauma, and pose a high risk of recidivism after release
(Minor, Wells, & Angel, 2008; Sedlak & McPherson, 2010).
Using a sample of high-risk adjudicated youth in the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
(FDJJ), the current study seeks to identify risk factors associated with a juvenile residential place-
ment. While prior literature has examined general characteristics of juveniles in out-of-home place-
ment, this study is among the first to specifically examine the relationship between ACEs and
juvenile residential placement. Additionally, there is evidence that there are both racial and gender
differences in exposure to ACEs and juvenile residential placement decisions. The current research
examines how ACEs may impact residential placement by race and gender. If such a relationship
exists, this will further benefit juvenile justice system administrators by providing useful informa-
tion regarding the identification of juveniles who pose the highest risk for residential placement.
Prior Research on ACEs
There is a wealth of research investigating the relationship between ACEs and later life outcomes
(Abram et al., 2004; Baglivio et al., 2014; Baglivio, Wolff, Epps, & Nelson, 2015; Baglivio, Wolff,
Piquero, et al., 2015; Barrett, Katsiyannis, Zhang, & Zhang, 2013; Craig et al., 2016; Dierkhising
et al., 2013; Felitti et al., 1998; Fox et al., 2015; Hillis et al., 2004; Wolff et al., 2015). As defined by
the first investigation into this topic, ACEs include 10 specific traumatic exposures: emotional
abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, witnessing violent treat-
ment toward mother, household substance abuse, household mental illness, parental separation or
divorce, and having a household member with a history of incarceration (Felitti et al., 1998). Felitti
and colleagues used a sample of well-educated adults who had completed a medical evaluation at a
large Health Maintenance Organization ( N ¼ 17,421) and found that a history of a greater number of
ACEs increased the probability of adult health risk and disease, alcohol/drug use, mental illness,
poor physical health, and even earlier death. Since this initial endeavor, there have been multiple
explorations into the relationship between ACEs and other negative outcomes such as those related
to the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems (e.g., see Baglivio et al., 2014; Baglivio, Wolff,
Epps, & Nelson, 2015; Fox et al., 2015; Wolff et al., 2015).
Overall, there is consistent evidence that ACEs are more prevalent among juvenile justice-
involved youth (Abram et al., 2004; Baglivio et al., 2014; Dierkhising et al., 2013). For instance,
Abram et al. (2004) found that trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more com-
mon among a sample of juvenile detainees than among juveniles in the general population. Simi-
larly, Dierkhising et al. (2013) utilized the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Core Data Set
to examine trauma histories for justice-involved youth. The authors found that the majority of their
sample (62%) reported exposure to multiple or co-occurring types of trauma and that these events
often occurred early in life (Dierkhising et al., 2013). Finally, Baglivio et al. (2014) found that
justice-involved youth had endured a multitude of ACEs, to an extent much greater than that found
in the general population.
Additionally, several studies have found that ACEs are predictive of juvenile recidivism
(Baglivio et al., 2014; Barrett et al., 2013; Craig et al., 2016). Baglivio and colleagues (2014)
examined the prevalence of ACEs in a large population of juvenile offenders in Florida

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Zettler et al.
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(N ¼ 64,329). Their analyses found that not only was greater exposure to ACEs associated with
juvenile justice involvement, but that ACEs were also predictive of recidivism (Baglivio et al.,
2014). In a similar effort, Barrett, Katsiyannis, Zhang, and Zhang (2013) matched a large sample of
justice-involved youth (N ¼ 99,602) to a control group from data by the South Carolina Department
of Education. The results of that study found that placement in either foster care or Child Protective
Services as a result of parental maltreatment increased the risk of delinquency.
Further, investigations have found that juveniles with more ACEs are more likely to become
SVC offenders (Baglivio, Wolff, Piquero, et al., 2015; Fox et al., 2015). Utilizing data from a
large sample of adjudicated juvenile offenders in Florida (N ¼ 64,329), Baglivio and colleagues
(2014) found that controlling for other internal and external risk factors, exposure to multiple
ACEs predicts early onset and chronic offending. Similarly, Fox, Perez, Cass, Baglivio, and Epps
(2015) found that ACEs have a cumulative effect and that each additional ACE a child experi-
ences increases the risk by 35 times of becoming a SVC offender before the youth aged out of
the juvenile justice system. Further, there is evidence that juveniles with higher ACE scores are
more likely to reoffend and to reoffend more quickly than youth with lower ACE scores (Wolff
et al., 2015). Overall, the literature surrounding ACEs and juvenile justice outcomes suggests that
this population with histories of more types of trauma is a higher risk population than juvenile
offenders who have low exposure to ACEs.
While the prior research has explored the relationship between ACEs and a variety of juvenile
justice outcomes, there has not been an examination of the relationship between ACEs and subse-
quent juvenile justice residential placement. This is an important gap in the research that should be
addressed, as there is evidence that both exposure to more ACEs and residential placement increase
the odds of future offending.
ACEs and Juvenile Residential Placement
Prior research on committed juvenile offenders has found that juveniles in these placements report
high rates of family dysfunction and prior trauma (Sedlak & Bruce, 2010; Sedlak & McPherson,
2010). Additionally, there is evidence that childhood and family problems are associated with
placement decisions for first-time juvenile offenders at the disposition stage. A sample of first-
time juvenile offenders in the Philadelphia juvenile justice system participating in the Program
Development and Evaluation System...