Poly-Victimization Among Incarcerated Youth: The Effects of Direct Childhood Victimization Experiences on Later Direct and Indirect Victimization within Detention Facilities

Background: Among incarcerated youth, rates of early victimization are two times higher than the general population. Exposure to or consistent renderings of violence may shape tolerations of victimization in various contexts. Consequently, youthful offending may be a function of reactions to reminders of early victimization. Research has only begun to investigate the aggregate effects of recurring and multiple forms of direct abuse experienced by youth, a concept coined poly-victimization. Knowing that at least one early abuse experience exacerbates risk for long-term victimization, delinquent youth with repeated victimization histories may be at greater risk for ongoing victimization.

It is important to ascertain the level of violence and victimization in youth detention facilities. The extent to which poly-victimization experiences condition and place youth at increased risk for violence remains unclear, particularly in the presence of other risky facility-level factors. This study seeks to explore the effects of direct childhood poly-victimization on later direct and indirect victimization within detention facilities among a nationally representative sample of incarcerated youth.

Methods: This paper draws from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) sponsored research on data collected in the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP). The SYRP is a self-report survey among pre- and post-adjudicated youth (N=7,073) aged 10-20 in juvenile facilities. The SYRP drew a nationally representative sample directly from the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement and the Juvenile Residential Facility Census through a probability proportional-to-size sample design.

Among various other constructs, information was gathered on demographics and backgrounds, facility experiences and environment, and maltreatment histories. Independent variables were four distinct forms of prior victimization (0=No; 1=Yes) including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or forced sexual experience. To create a poly-victimization index, the variables were cumulated to create one 4-level categorical variable (0= No; 1= 1 form; 2= 2 forms; 3= 3 forms; 4= 4 forms). Demographics and number of negative staff and facility characteristics were covariates in the model. The dependent variable was any form of facility victimization (physical, sexual, robbery, and verbal abuse) (0=No; 1= Yes). Weights and design effects were included in the analyses to compensate for dependence among observations and disproportionate sampling, and a logistic regression model was run.

Results: The value of the pseudo R-square, or the Cox and Snell, suggests that 22% of the variance is explained by this model. The results reveal that youth with poly-victimization experiences were more likely to endure facility victimization (OR = 1.4, p < .001). Further, negative staff characteristics (OR=1.3, p<.001) and facility characteristics (OR=1.4, p<.001) predicted greater facility victimization.

Implications: This study supports the use of trauma screening and trauma-informed care for all adjudicated youth. Detention facilities ought to begin considering neurobiological and behavioral impacts of trauma and develop programming to better support youth with compound trauma histories. Even with a more recent movement towards community-based care, youth incarceration settings may always be a reality. Implementing holistic programming; reforming the detention culture; and training and developing facility staff may be necessary actions to reduce facility victimization.