Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Criminal Justice

Advisor

Kevin T. Wolff

Committee Members

Deborah Koetzle

Karen Terry

Adam Fine

Subject Categories

Other Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

Adverse childhood experiences, juvenile justice

Abstract

This dissertation examines gender-specific patterns of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among justice-involved youth using network analysis. Despite experiencing higher rates of childhood adversity, female youth show lower recidivism rates than males, presenting an empirical paradox. Using a sample of 19,454 justice-involved youth (75% male), this study applies novel network methods to understand how ACEs and behavioral outcomes are organized across gender. Findings reveal distinct network architectures: female youth maintain more integrated but vulnerable networks, while males show more compartmentalized but stable structures. Female recidivists demonstrate systematic network destabilization when compared to non-recidivists, characterized by a 39% reduction in network density, while male recidivists show selective reorganization with only 7% reduction in connections. Physical abuse emerged as the most central node in female networks (strength centrality 1.12-1.41), while family violence dominated male networks (strength centrality 1.42-1.47). These findings suggest fundamentally different mechanisms linking childhood adversity to involvement with the juvenile justice system across gender, supporting the need for gender-responsive approaches to juvenile justice intervention. The identification of gender-specific central nodes and network reorganization patterns provides new frameworks for understanding recidivism risk and designing targeted interventions.

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