326 - Dawn M. Pflugradt, Bradley P. Allen, and Amanda J. Zintsmaster (2018)

Adverse Childhood Experiences of Violent Female Offenders: A Comparison of Homicide and Sexual Perpetrators

main purpose

to understand how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) relate to violent behaviour among female offenders, specifically women convicted of homicide and women who committed sexual offences.

They wanted to determine:

• Whether female homicide perpetrators experienced more childhood trauma than women in the general population.

• Whether female homicide perpetrators experienced more childhood trauma than female sexual offenders.

• Whether different types of childhood trauma were associated with different forms of adult violent behaviour.

• Whether childhood abuse, neglect, and dysfunctional family environments could help explain pathways to female offending.

main research question

Do female homicide perpetrators experience different types and levels of childhood trauma compared with female sexual offenders and women in the general population?

ACEs

adverse childhood experiences

The study examined three main categories:

Category	Examples
Abuse	Physical, emotional/verbal, and sexual abuse
Neglect	Physical and emotional neglect
Household dysfunction	Domestic violence, parental separation, substance abuse, mental illness, and an incarcerated household member

sample breakdown

Group	Sample size
Female homicide perpetrators	28
Female sexual offenders	47
General female population (CDC study)	17,337

research design

Quantitative, comparative, exploratory study.

data collection

1. Female homicide perpetrators: Researchers recruited 28 women convicted of intentional homicide through correctional facilities. Participants voluntarily completed the ACE questionnaire.

2. Female sexual offenders: Researchers used previously published data from a study by Levenson et al. (2015), which included 47 female sexual offenders.

3. General female population: Researchers used existing data from the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, which included more than 17,000 participants.

measurement tool

used the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Questionnaire, originally developed by Felitti and colleagues (1998).

Participants indicated whether they had experienced specific adverse events before age 18. Their responses were added together to calculate their ACE scores.

A. Female homicide perpetrators experienced significantly more childhood trauma

ACE exposure	Female homicide perpetrators	General female population
At least one ACE	100%	65%
Four or more ACEs	82%	15%
Five or more ACEs	71%	Not specified

B. Female homicide perpetrators experienced more childhood trauma than female sexual offenders

Another major finding was that women convicted of homicide generally reported more childhood adversity than women who committed sexual offences.

The homicide group reported significantly higher levels of several experiences:

Childhood experience	Homicide offenders	Sexual offenders
Verbal/emotional abuse	64%	30%
Physical abuse	71%	34%
Sexual abuse	57%	50%
Emotional neglect	79%	40%
Physical neglect	50%	11%
Substance abuse in household	64%	40%
Mental illness in household	71%	21%

Childhood trauma was associated with mental health and substance abuse

Among the 28 female homicide perpetrators:

• 89.2% had depressive disorders.

• 46.4% had borderline personality disorder.

• 53.5% had antisocial personality disorder.

• 64.3% reported a history of substance abuse.

important mental health distinction

The researchers could not determine whether childhood trauma caused mental health problems, whether pre-existing vulnerabilities influenced the effects of trauma, or whether these factors contributed to later violence.

D. Similarities between homicide and sexual offenders

Similarities included:

• Sexual abuse.

• Parental separation or divorce.

• Domestic violence within the household.

• Having an incarcerated household member.

E. Childhood trauma and future prevention

They discussed the importance of resilience and protective factors, which can help children overcome difficult experiences.

Examples include:

• Having at least one caring and supportive adult.

• Growing up in a supportive environment.

• Having access to educational opportunities.

limitations of the study

Small sample size: Only 28 female homicide perpetrators participated, making it difficult to generalize the findings to all female homicide offenders.

2. Self-reported information: Participants had to recall and report their childhood experiences, which could result in inaccurate or incomplete information.

3. Different data sources: The researchers collected their own data for homicide perpetrators but relied on previously published research for sexual offenders and existing CDC data for the general population.

4. Limited understanding of adult experiences: The researchers could not fully examine how experiences of abuse during adulthood interacted with childhood trauma.

5. Correlation does not establish causation: The study identified associations between childhood adversity and violent offending but could not prove that childhood trauma caused the offending behaviour.

The three biggest findings were:

1.Childhood trauma: All 28 female homicide perpetrators reported at least one ACE, and 82% reported four or more.

2. Different pathways to violence: Female homicide perpetrators generally experienced more childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction than female sexual offenders.

3. Mental health and substance abuse: Childhood adversity was associated with significant mental health difficulties and substance abuse among the participants, although the researchers could not establish causation.