Walsh Colm, Cunningham Twylla
Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.
Probation Board for Northern Ireland, Belfast, United Kingdom.
J Child Adolesc Trauma. 2023 Jan 13;16(3):547-558. doi: 10.1007/s40653-023-00516-2. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Whilst most people who experience adversity recover, there is a cumulative body of evidence that illustrates that the effects can be long lasting, and can even become debilitating over time. Links have been made between traumatic distress, mental health disorders and disturbances in behavioural and emotional regulatory systems that may in context elevate the risk of offending. Despite the burgeoning evidence around the criminogenic effects of adversity, few studies have examined the traumatic effects of paramilitary related adversity in the context of post-conflict Northern Ireland. With reference to DSM-V PTSD diagnostic clusters, the aim of this study was to explore the latent impact of adversity and latent trauma among justice involved young men and identify potential criminogenic effects of exposure to paramilitary related adversity. This study found that across the sample, young men had self-reported to have experienced significant adversity, including violent victimisation. Exposure to paramilitary adversity often began during early adolescence. The participants described symptoms that were consistent with clinically diagnosable disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Despite this, there appears to be a paucity of trauma screening and assessment, and few supports that victim could benefit from. In the absence of appropriate and evidence-based supports, many young men appear to find other (and more maladaptive) ways to cope. This exacerbates the risk of interfacing with the justice system and may even contribute towards a deterioration in wider psycho-social outcomes. Implications for practice are discussed.
虽然大多数经历逆境的人都能恢复，但有大量证据表明，这些影响可能是持久的，甚至随着时间的推移会变得使人衰弱。创伤性应激、心理健康障碍以及行为和情绪调节系统紊乱之间存在联系，在某些情况下，这些可能会增加犯罪风险。尽管围绕逆境的犯罪成因效应的证据不断涌现，但在冲突后的北爱尔兰背景下，很少有研究探讨与准军事组织相关的逆境所造成的创伤性影响。参照《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第五版中创伤后应激障碍的诊断类别，本研究的目的是探讨涉司法的年轻男性中逆境和潜在创伤的潜在影响，并确定接触与准军事组织相关的逆境的潜在犯罪成因效应。本研究发现，在整个样本中，年轻男性自我报告称经历了重大逆境，包括暴力受害。接触准军事组织相关的逆境通常始于青春期早期。参与者描述的症状与创伤后应激障碍等临床可诊断疾病一致。尽管如此，创伤筛查和评估似乎很少，受害者能从中受益的支持也很少。在缺乏适当的循证支持的情况下，许多年轻男性似乎会找到其他（更适应不良的）应对方式。这加剧了与司法系统接触的风险，甚至可能导致更广泛的心理社会结果恶化。文中还讨论了对实践的启示。
