SAGE Journal Articles
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Abstract: Adverse childhood experiences are associated with a multitude of health and social problems. In addition to an increased risk of poor health, mental disorders, and substance abuse, childhood maltreatment is also significantly related to adult violent offending. Although gender-specific analyses suggest that early childhood maltreatment precedes later violence for males across offense categories, it is unknown whether this association also applies to different types of female offenders. This study explores the types and quantity of adverse childhood experiences for two groups of violent female offenders: perpetrators of intentional homicide (N = 28) and perpetrators of sexual offenses (N = 47). A nonparametric analysis using odds ratios (OR) indicated that female homicide perpetrators experienced significantly more adverse childhood experiences (as measured by the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire) than female sex offenders. Implications for future research are discussed.
Journal Article 2: Semenza, D. (2017). Health behaviors and juvenile delinquency. Crime & Delinquency, 64, 1394-1416.
Abstract: This study draws upon Kaplan’s theory of self-attitude and deviant response to examine the relationship between health behavior and juvenile delinquency. The analysis, examining data from the Monitoring the Future 2013 study, shows that health behavior is associated with multiple forms of delinquency even after accounting for illness, as well as pertinent demographic and individual factors. The findings support the position that health behaviors have a distinct theoretical relationship with delinquency related to self-attitude, separate from the effects of illness. The article builds upon prior work regarding physical health and delinquency, demonstrating that a healthy lifestyle may decrease the likelihood of delinquency through an improvement in self-attitude.