Adverse childhood experience trajectories and individual high risk-behaviors of sexual offenders: A developmental victimology perspective

Background. Developmental victimology theory suggests that developmental features of risk and impact stemming from various types of victimization depend on the age of the child or adolescent. Objective. A next step is studying the developmental victimization trajectories of individuals involved in sexual crimes by focusing on traumatic events occurring during childhood and adolescence respectively. Building on the developmental victimology perspective, the study's specific aims encompass two key objectives: 1) exploring the diverse trajectories of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) within a sample of individuals involved in sexual crimes, and 2) assessing whether these ACEs trajectories influence the emergence of distinct high-risk behaviors. Participants and setting. 252 individuals convicted of sexual crimes were selected from a federal penitentiary in Quebec, Canada. Methods. Semi-structured interviews with a computerized questionnaire produced data on numerous aspects of the participant's life history, criminal career, and victimization experiences that were analyzed via latent class modeling. Results. Four classes (no ACEs trajectory, poly exposure and victimization trajectory, childhood exposure trajectory, and poly victimization trajectory) were identified. Conclusions. Consistent with hypotheses, developmental ACEs trajectories are heterogeneous and associated with the criminal careers, adolescent problematic behaviors, substance use disorders, and violence history among individuals involved in sexual offending.