Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

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.

This work is embargoed and will be available for download on Sunday, February 01, 2026

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