Bitesize Research: Connection Between Childhood Trauma & Committing Crime

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone’s had a great week so far! Linking to our ongoing work on trauma-informed practice, and following our recent Think Trauma bronze award, this week, I came across some recent research findings done by the Nuffield Foundation. This work is looking at the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on rates of crime and offending. Objectives:

To understand the connection between childhood trauma and committing crimes as an adult. Summary:

• 4,300 people between age 12 and 35 who had experienced childhood trauma were tracked to examine their involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour
• A quarter of these had a criminal offence by the age of 35. Of these, most stopped offending after their adolescent years, but for committing offences continued well into middle age.
• They also found a connection between childhood trauma and the likelihood of staying away from crimes.

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• What does this article tell us about the significance of childhood trauma?
• How am I currently taking a trauma-informed approach?
• What further training would be helpful to ensure I can support my use of a trauma-informed approach as best as possible?

If you would like to discuss this further with me please get in touch! I’d be delighted to hear from you!