Public Attitudes towards Adverse Childhood Experiences and Criminality in the UK

Abstract

Background
Evidence links exposure to multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; intense stressors in
childhood such as physical or sexual abuse) and negative outcomes across the life course. Strong links between multiple ACEs and an increased risk for criminal justice involvement have also been identified. Numerous studies in the United States have explored the influence of defendant childhood trauma on juror decision-making and sentencing attitudes. However, very few studies have looked at the impact of the decision-makers own childhood trauma on subsequent criminal justice decision-making. In the UK to date, no studies have examined public attitudes towards varying aspects of criminality, specifically sentencing and culpability, and the influence of their ACE exposure and other offence/offender characteristics. Furthermore, understanding of public attitudes and how they relate to psychological and
criminological theories of childhood abuse and criminality, and how they should be considered within the context of the Sentencing Guidelines (2019) underpinning the UK’s criminal justice system, is limited.
The present study had three broad aims. Firstly, to explore if ACE exposure is associated with
severity in sentencing, culpability judgements, sympathetic attitudes and support for other criminal justice measures. Secondly, it sought to identify if knowledge of an offender’s age, offence type and ACE exposure is associated with severity in sentencing, culpability judgements, sympathetic attitudes and support for other criminal justice measures. Finally, to evaluate if personal experience of the Criminal Justice System is associated with ACE exposure, severity in sentencing, culpability judgements, sympathetic attitudes and support for other criminal justice measures.

Methods
To inform hypotheses generation, a scoping review of the literature on ACEs and associations
with attitudes towards criminal justice was conducted. Utilising findings from the scoping review, an online questionnaire was created, exploring support for various criminal justice measures, sentencing severity preferences, criminal justice experience and sympathetic attitudes towards offenders. A standardised ACE tool and demographic data were also included. This work sought to identify public attitudes towards sentencing severity, culpability, sympathetic attitudes and other criminal justice measures, and associations with ACE exposure, offender characteristics and criminal justice experience.
An opportunistic sample of 1,336 individuals in the UK aged 18 and over was utilised. Descriptive statistics were calculated initially to identify the pattern of responses, with chi square tests and regression analyses furthering the investigations to identify independent relationships between variables, adjusting for participant ACE count, demographics and criminal justice experience.

Results
Participant attitudes towards sentencing were generally punitive. There was evidence for more
lenient sentencing preferences and reduced criminal responsibility assigned to child offenders. Despite exposure to multiple ACEs being associated with more punitive attitudes, exposure to four or more ACEs was found to be associated with more sympathetic attitudes towards offenders who had experienced ACEs. The majority of participants thought that in general, individuals exposed to ACEs have an increased likelihood of criminality. Significantly more participants judged offenders as guilty when knowledge of an offender’s regular ACE exposure was available. Contrastingly, knowledge of an offender’s exposure to individual ACE types (as opposed to cumulative ACEs) had a mitigating influence on sentencing attitudes. Personal ACE experience also was found to be associated with a mitigating attitude towards sentencing. Finally, participants with experience of jury service held significantly more punitive attitudes.

Conclusions
Despite attitudes in general being mostly punitive, with increased culpability being linked with ACE exposure, the findings suggest not all ACE types are viewed as equally influential, with their mitigating effect varying alongside other variables such as offender age. Interestingly, when individuals have a history of ACEs themselves, offender ACE history may moderate punitive decision-making.
Despite ongoing work nationally and internationally to promote effective change and increased awareness regarding ACEs, this research highlights the need to focus on the potential biases that may result from personal ACE exposure, combined with the knowledge of another's ACEs. Education and healthcare settings are key areas that would benefit from enhanced training in minimising bias towards marginalised groups in society. Such training is also essential across all branches of the criminal justice system, as these findings have the potential to impact criminal justice proceedings at all stages, from front line policing to court proceedings. This work is the first of its kind to explore how different factors are considered in criminal justice decision-making, how individuals interpret the relationship between childhood trauma and criminality and their attitudes and decision-making as a result. It suggests new ways to effectively utilise the Sentencing Guidelines within the UK, stressing the importance of multi-disciplinary information sharing within criminal justice proceedings, relevant for all involved in criminal justice decision-making. The findings here, stress the importance of trauma-informed training and practices aimed at minimising bias, ensuring decision-making comes from an informed knowledge base across all areas of society.

Date of Award	11 Sept 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Sponsors	Public Health Wales
Supervisor	Sion Williams (Supervisor), Kat Ford (Supervisor) & Mark Bellis (Supervisor)