Associations Among Trauma Exposure, Callous-Unemotionality, Race or Ethnicity, and Gang Involvement in Justice-Involved Youth
- 15 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Criminal Justice and Behavior
- Vol. 47 (4), 457-469
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854819897940
Abstract
The current study examined the association between trauma exposure and gang involvement and whether these interrelations were explained by callous-unemotionality (CU). In addition, the current study examined whether the associations among these variables differed based on race or ethnicity. A sample of 829 justice-involved youth (74% boys, 45% participants of color) recruited from a detention center completed self-report measures of trauma exposure, CU, and gang involvement. A moderated mediation analysis indicated that CU helped explain the association between trauma exposure and gang involvement for non-Hispanic White participants only. In contrast, the direct association between trauma exposure and gang involvement was significant across racial or ethnic groups. These findings highlight the importance of a trauma-informed perspective on intervening and preventing gang involvement among youth.Funding Information
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (1256065)
- University of Utah Graduate Diversity Scholar Fellowship (n/a)
- National Institute of Justice (2014-R2-CX-0020)
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- Distinguishing primary and secondary variants of callous-unemotional traits among adolescents in a clinic-referred sample.Psychological Assessment, 2013
- Who Are the Gangsters?Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 2012
- Delinquent Behavior, Violence, and Gang Involvement in ChinaJournal of Quantitative Criminology, 2012
- Brief report: Do delinquency and community violence exposure explain internalizing problems in early adolescent gang members?Journal of Adolescence, 2011
- Race/ethnic differences in exposure to traumatic events, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and treatment-seeking for post-traumatic stress disorder in the United StatesPsychological Medicine, 2010
- Homicidal Events Among Mexican American Street GangsHomicide Studies, 2009
- Impulsive and callous traits are more strongly associated with delinquent behavior in higher risk neighborhoods among boys and girls.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2008
- The callousness pathway to severe violent delinquencyAggressive Behavior, 2006
- Youth Maltreatment and Gang InvolvementJournal of Interpersonal Violence, 1998
- Canadian Male Street Skinheads: Street Gang or Street Terrorists?Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 1997