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Several studies have related diagnostic information and adversity in childhood to criminal careers and risk of recidivism. Notably, ADHD and conduct disorder in childhood, schizophrenia, sexual abuse and physical abuse have been associated with offences in adulthood. This study investigates these variables in relation to large cohorts of offenders with learning disabilities. A case note review was undertaken for 126 individuals referred but not accepted into forensic learning disability services and 197 individuals accepted for such services. Results are reported on diagnostic information and experience of adversity in childhood. ADHD/conduct disorder featured prominently in both groups. Autistic spectrum disorders were not particularly over‐represented. For adversity in childhood, general socioeconomic deprivation featured prominently in both groups. This also increased significantly for those accepted into services. Sexual abuse and non‐accidental injury were featured at around 13‐20% for both groups. These results are broadly consistent with the mainstream literature on offending, ADHD/conduct disorder and general deprivation featuring significantly in all groups and rising for those accepted into offender services. It is important to deal with these aspects during assessment and to provide appropriate psychotherapeutic services for these individuals.

Adverse childhood experiences that are consistently experienced over a sustained period of time throughout childhood result in an accumulation of childhood adversity, which is often referred to in the literature as cumulative harm. This paper aims to closely examine statutory child protection practice, which favours an episodic and incident-focused approach to assessing risk and harm, failing to account for the evaluation of the accumulation of adversity and harm, commonly experienced by children exposed to maltreatment. The paper defines an existing gap in practice frameworks to adequately identify and respond to the accumulation of adversity.

Drawing on practice experiences in Queensland Australia, the paper examines service delivery responses to cumulative harm in the context of the Intensive Family Support model of service delivery.

Within current frameworks for child protection service delivery, there is no method of assessing the diverse and cumulative effects of ongoing chronic child maltreatment and adversity, despite research confirming that cumulative harm very often co-occurs with other child protection concerns. To effectively and collaboratively intervene in matters of chronic and cumulative abuse and neglect, practitioners and stakeholders must be guided by frameworks and assessments that accurately recognise and acknowledge the impact of ongoing exposure to adverse experiences and maltreatment.

The need for a valid and reliable assessment method that draws together all elements contributing to the chronic maltreatment experience for a child and family: multiplicity, diversity and severity.

Practice solutions tailored to each child’s specific cumulative experiences of adversity and maltreatment will promote better social, emotional and health outcomes across the lifespan.

This paper highlights a significant gap in assessment and practice frameworks and advances the impetus for cumulative harm to be proactively integrated into social care and service delivery.

People with developmental disorders are significantly more likely to experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), although the impact of ACEs on this population is not well understood. Furthermore, considerably less is known about the exposure to, and impact of, ACEs in detained adolescents with complex developmental disorder needs. This paper aims to explore the exposure to ACEs in an adolescent population detained in a secure specialist developmental disorder service.

A retrospective file review was used to explore ACEs and placement histories within a specialist developmental disorder inpatient service. Data was collated for a convenience sample of 36 adolescents, 9 of whom were female, aged 13–20 years (M = 17.28 years).

A total of 33 participants (91.7%) had experienced at least 1 ACE, with 58% experiencing 4 or more ACEs and 36% experiencing 6 or more ACEs. The most common ACEs reported were physical abuse (61.6%), parental separation (58.3%) and emotional abuse (55.6%). The majority of participants had also experienced high levels of disruption prior to admission, with an average of four placement breakdowns (range 1–13, standard deviation = 3.1). ACEs held a significant positive association with the total number of placement breakdowns and total number of mental health diagnoses.

Adolescents detained in specialist developmental disorder secure care had, at the point of admission, experienced high levels of adversities and had been exposed to high levels of experienced and observed abuse. The level of exposure to adversity and ongoing disruptions in care suggests that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services’ developmental secure services should consider adopting dual treatment frameworks of developmental disorder and trauma-informed care.

This study explored the early-life and placement experiences of a marginalised and understudied population.

The purpose of this paper is to examine what helps people come through difficult events and circumstances.

A search was carried out for recent papers on adversity and thriving.

One paper reviewed 27 studies of coping and wellbeing after adversities. Maybe some kinds of adversity can help us get stronger, but people’s social contexts were not considered and the studies measured different things that may not be as easily compared as first appears. A second paper examined wellbeing at work, and reported that a certain type of supervisor is important for preventing burnout. The final paper reported on 55 people who survived depression. Many (though not all) participants felt their life was better than before. Surviving was assisted by practical and social support rather than pills.

The review of research on adversity highlights that patterns of data may look similar but may not tell us as much as we hoped. The study of workplace thriving highlighted how supervisors might support people to do their best work while preventing burnout. The study on surviving depression suggested that social resources were key to a good outcome and a better life. Social inclusion is likely to be important.

This paper summarises two 2014 research papers. The purpose of this paper is to suggest how the treatment of “schizophrenia” and other serious mental distress might realistically benefit both from new research evidence and recommendations for values-based practice that supports personally meaningful recovery.

First the author discusses a paper that reviews recent research on how people may come to have experiences labelled as psychosis. It looks at what happens to our brains and bodies when we experience severe stress and adversity, especially in childhood. Then the author discusses a paper that updates the international and values-driven consensus on how mental health services can support personal recovery, that is, recovery uniquely meaningful to each person and incorporating social inclusion.

The first paper summarises how a very adverse childhood can lead to experiences labelled as psychotic because of how the brain and body copes with stress. This and another paper suggest talking therapies may allow these changes to reverse. The paper on recommendations for practice illustrates the international consensus and wealth of guidance available to support values-based recovery-focused practice. Both allow the possibility that refusing antipsychotics may be a sensible decision.

The review of evidence on adversity, the brain and psychosis is the first summary of new research in this area since 2001. The paper on recovery-focused practice brings together a wealth of relevant material and recommendations for psychiatry.

This paper aims to examine the prevalence of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and factors connected in a young adult population, through a series of connected studies. Each study considered exposure to poly-victimisation. The series of studies focussed on a number of factors felt to impact vulnerability and protective factors towards CSE. Specifically caregiver bonds, resilience and attachment style, adolescent risk-taking, quality of caregiver bonds, level/type of supportive relationships and positive schemas, as well as the impact of CSE disclosure and links to attachment style and maladaptive schemas.

These studies looked at a young adult population, mainly women. Study one (n = 263), study two (n = 138) and study three (n = 211), predominantly collected via a series of online measures.

Findings demonstrated that around half of children under 16 years had been approached sexually by an adult, with approximately one in four children subsequently exploited. Various results were noted, such as experiencing a primary caregiver as lacking in warmth and affection was associated with those reporting CSE, with further exposure to poly-victimisation contributing to a less functional coping style and insecure attachments. CSE was not associated with higher levels of adolescent risk-taking, poor bonds with the primary caregiver, fewer important childhood relationships and positive schemas.

This paper notes the importance of addressing the functions of behaviours for victims, to reduce re-victimisation risk. It noted the importance of applying theory when working with this population. It introduced the protect and vulnerability model against CSE and has practical applications for professionals working with victims of CSE. This paper argues the importance of individualised assessments for children who are deemed to be “at-risk” of CSE.

Findings were combined to propose the protection against the CSE model and the application of this to intervention and future research is acknowledged.

In a health survey of Finnish prisoners in 2006, the authors aimed to study frequency and gender differences in childhood physical and sexual abuse, and the connections of maltreatment in childhood to substance abuse and mental health among female and male prisoners.

The sample consisted of 101 female prisoners, with 309 male prisoners for comparison. The subjects participated in a comprehensive field study consisting of several questionnaires, interviews, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis I and II Disorders (SCID I, II) and a clinical medical examination including ICD‐10 diagnoses.

Both forms of abuse were more common among females than males (childhood physical abuse 25 per cent versus 15 per cent and childhood sexual abuse 32 per cent versus 7 per cent). Associations of childhood abuse with substance abuse and mental health were different among males and females. Family integrity was important only for males and in connection with drug dependence and antisocial personality disorder. The gender differences did not concur with those reported in studies on general populations.

This is a part of the first comprehensive health survey of Finnish prisoners.

This paper aims to argue that to address those factors that contribute to the probability of offending, the origins of such factors should be understood, and interventions that recognise the functional aspects of criminogenic capacities should be developed.

The paper provides a theoretical basis for trauma sensitive practice by providing an evolutionary understanding of human harmfulness alongside a summary of the impact of adversity and abuse on the developing child.

The paper proposes an overarching framework that uses compassion-focused therapy for risk reducing interventions with men who cause harm to others.

This paper encourages forensic practitioners to develop a trauma aware approach to intervention design and delivery. The paper provides an overview of a compassion-focused therapy as approach to intervention that conceptualises criminogenic capacities within a more holistic and functional framework.

Forensic interventions have been slow to assimilate evidence from adverse childhood experience research and have therefore been limited in their ability to address the functional origins of criminogenic need. This paper offers a framework that allows practitioners to address risk while also allowing individuals to process their own trauma and adversity.

Recent years have seen significant policy and practice interest in how to best respond to the impact of childhood maltreatment and adversity on young people’s contact with youth justice systems. In Australia, this has resulted in increasing pressure to implement trauma-informed practice, although this is a term that has different meanings for different stakeholders, and little is known about the perspectives of justice-involved young people. This paper aims to review what is currently known about co-production in youth justice and discuss ways in which young people can be meaningfully involved in the development of trauma-informed practice frameworks.

A narrative approach is used to present a contextual overview of youth justice in Australia, introduce key concepts underpinning trauma-informed practice and consider the barriers and facilitators of co-production and participatory approaches to the development and implementation of trauma-informed practice.

Youth justice in Australia is widely viewed as in urgent need of reform, with broad interest in developing more trauma-informed practice in these systems. Co-production and participatory approaches are fundamental to the reform process and can help to ensure that the views and aspirations of the children for whom these systems are responsible are embedded in efforts to implement trauma-informed practice.

This paper presents an argument for implementing trauma-informed practice in Australian youth justice that is based on consultation and collaboration with young people. It does not present evidence about the potential effectiveness of such an approach.

This paper has direct implications for youth justice practice, in terms of both service philosophy, design and delivery.

The work discussed in this paper offers possibilities for new and different ways of responding to youth crime and maintaining community safety.

Whilst the need to re-imagine youth justice is widely recognised, there are few resources available to support efforts to co-produce trauma-informed practice. This paper synthesises what is known about these approaches and offers some suggestions and possible ways forward.

Given the amount of research examining the association between trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with aggression and violence, few studies have focussed on a UK prison population. Additionally, few have examined the relationship between PTSD symptoms, aggression and violence perpetrated in custody. The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between PTSD and violence against the person in prison, and the association between PTSD and having a conviction for violence against the person.

The sample consisted of 110 participants from a male prison in England (young offenders and adult prisoners). They were assessed for PTSD symptoms using the Detailed Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress (DAPS; Briere, 2001), their criminal history and custodial behaviour was analysed.

The findings revealed that symptoms of PTSD were significantly associated with violence in prison, however, symptoms of PTSD were not found to be significantly associated with having a violent conviction. Further analysis using logistic regression found having a violent conviction, age and PTSD symptoms were significant predictors of violence in prison.

The limitations of this study are the reliance on a self-report measure to assess symptoms of PTSD, the small sample size and the absence of a control group.

The results highlighted the need for staff training and the availability of a service to assess and treat PTSD. This would increase the well-being of offenders and support the current HM Prison Service violence reduction strategies.

This study provides new research into the UK prison population.