Adversity, trauma and resilience in childhood experiences

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have significant impacts on future trajectories of vulnerability, violence victimisation and perpetration, as well as lifelong health and opportunity. This project will focus on understanding the lived experiences and compounding effects of ACEs and trauma through personal narrative histories and trajectories of young people who have had contact with, and experience of, the criminal justice system. It will focus on in-depth, qualitative studies of a sample of 18-25 year old young women and men in West Yorkshire.

Childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect, community violence, homelessness, growing up in care or in a household where adults are experiencing mental health, drug or alcohol issues, can have long-lasting implications that compound other disadvantages. This study will seek to better understand the manner in which interactions between adversity, trauma and criminalisation impact on the life-course trajectories of young people. It will also focus on the opportunities for safeguarding and early intervention to support and build resilience among young adults as well as to reduce the incidence and impact of childhood adversity.

Particular attention will be given to:

Childhood experiences of adversity, trauma and resilience.
The compounding effects of adversity, trauma and contact with the criminal justice system/policing.
Childhood experiences of contact with diverse social and health care service providers and police/criminal justice system as lived and interpreted by young people.
The effects of interactions with the police and criminal justice system and experiences of criminalisation and stigma in compounding adverse experiences and in shaping vulnerability in adulthood.
The role of resilience and early intervention in supporting young people to manage adversity and trauma and how this is supported or undermined by interactions with services providers.
Given the number of children entering care has reached a 10-year high and that there have long been concerns about the existence of a care-to-custody pipeline, the research will also consider the particular experiences of 'looked after children'.
Working closely with the collaborative partners the project will collect data from the following sources:

In-depth interviews will be conducted with a sample of young people aged 18-25 across West Yorkshire who have experienced significant interactions with police and criminal justice agencies/ institutions; a sub-sample will include those with experience of institutional care.
Narrative case histories will be collected drawing on case files and additional data sources.
These will be complemented by interviews with key professionals and front-line services providers involved in policing, safeguarding, social care and health.