Papalia N1, Widom C2
1Centre For Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University Of Technology, 2John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Biography:
Nina Papalia is a registered clinical forensic psychologist and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University, where she co-chairs the ‘Child Maltreatment and Youth Offending’ research stream. She recently completed a Fulbright Fellowship in the Psychology Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York. Her research broadly aims to create and mobilise knowledge that can help reduce violence and victimization among young people and improve the mental health and wellbeing of children, youth and families interacting with civil and criminal legal systems.
Attachment theory has played an important role in attempts to understand the “cycle of violence,” where maltreated children are at increased risk for perpetrating violence later in life. However, little is known empirically about whether adult attachment insecurity in close relationships may partly explain the link between childhood maltreatment and violent behavior. This study aimed to address this gap using data from a prospective longitudinal study of documented childhood abuse and neglect cases from a metropolitan area in the United States Midwest, and demographically matched controls (ages 0-11 years), who were followed into adulthood and interviewed (N = 892). Participants completed the Relationship Scales Questionnaire tapping adult attachment styles at mean age 39.54. Criminal arrest data were used to determine arrests for violence after the assessment of attachment through mean age 50.54. There were significant direct paths from childhood maltreatment and adult attachment insecurity to violent arrests after attachment measurement. Attachment insecurity partly explained the higher levels of violence in individuals with maltreatment histories. Analyses of maltreatment subtypes and attachment dimensions revealed that attachment anxiety mediated the paths between neglect and physical abuse and later violent arrests. There were no significant indirect paths from neglect or physical abuse to violence via attachment avoidance. Implications and future directions are discussed.