This case study intends to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and adult interpersonal relationships. The study involved 30 randomly selected prisoners, and the prisoners were allowed to decline participation in the study. The study will be conducted face to face.
Possible Risks
The possible risks to the participants of the study include the potential for negative feelings due to discussing past traumas. This can cause emotional distress to the participants. There is a risk to the researcher as well, as those participants may become volatile while discussing past traumas. Significant childhood trauma has been linked to higher rates of aggression (John Carroll University, n.d.). The risks to society are that due to the results of the study, people may judge those with childhood trauma as dangerous or abnormal, when that is not necessarily always the case.
Possible benefits
The possible benefits of the study is that the participants may gain greater understanding of how the things that have happened in their childhood have led them to their current situation. The benefit for the researcher is a greater understanding of the link between childhood trauma and adult relationships. Society may learn how to better address childhood trauma and understand the effect that it has on adult lives.
Level of IRB approval
This requires a full IRB review. The study involves prisoners as participants and the potential for risk is non-minimal as it involves very sensitive topics that can cause emotional harm to participants (Wolff 2012).
References
Wolff, N., & Shi, J. (2012). Childhood and adult trauma experiences of incarcerated persons and their relationship to adult behavioral health problems and treatment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 9(5), 1908–1926. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9051908
“In the United States, 1 in 6 state male inmates reported being physically or sexually abused before age 18, and many more witnessed interpersonal violence. Over half of male inmates (56%) reported experiencing childhood physical trauma. By contrast, sexual trauma in childhood is less common (less than 10%) than physical trauma among incarcerated men. Trauma, both experienced and witnessed, often continues into adulthood.” (Wolff & Shi, 2012)
This article provided incredible numbers on why this study was so important. If this trauma is successfully processed and emotionally recovered, can they prevent to continued issues as they continue into adulthood. Will this perhaps prevent incarceration?
Wolff, N., & Shi, J. (2012). Childhood and adult trauma experiences of incarcerated persons and their relationship to adult behavioral health problems and treatment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 9(5), 1908–1926. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph9051908
It’s also been found that childhood trauma can lead to poorer health outcomes later in life and a lowered life expectancy as well (Bartos, 2017). There needs to be a stronger effort to address the issue of childhood trauma to address the high rates of chronic disease and incarceration.
Bartos, L. (2017, October 13). Pipeline to Prison May Start with Childhood Trauma. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://www.calhealthreport.org/2016/01/06/pipeline-to-prison-may-start-with-childhood-trauma/
Childhood trauma and lack of support can lead to a path of violence and incarceration. Benefits of Case study 2 can help identify the long term effects of trauma. It was unclear if the questionnaire addressed any mental illness or substance abuse. Mental illness resulting from trauma and inability to understand or deal with painful feelings can lead to destructive behavior. Limitations of the study was that not every prisoner had the same type of traumatic experience therefore it can’t be generalized to the whole prison population. Many other contributing factors could have lead up to the individual’s incarceration
Honorato, B., Caltabiano, N., & Clough, A. R. (2016). From trauma to incarceration: exploring the trajectory in a qualitative study in male prison inmates from north Queensland, Australia. Health & justice, 4, 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-016-0034-x
I agree with the risk to society you mentioned, and how this study could cause people to have negative judgments about people who experience childhood traumas. The small sample size and data collection from a vulnerable group just represents a small subset of society. The study seems better suited for specific research related to incarcerated individuals. Also, the part of the study that analyzes adult interpersonal relationships – I wonder if it may be skewed if the inmate being questioned has been in prison most of their adult life? There is a very specific culture within the prison that is not like interpersonal relations formed outside of prison (Kreager & Kruttschnitt, 2018). Again, I feel this study is aimed toward research related to prison inmates, not a sample of society at large.
Reference:
Kreager, D. A., & Kruttschnitt, C. (2018). INMATE SOCIETY IN THE ERA OF MASS INCARCERATION. Annual review of criminology, 1, 261–283. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092513
That’s an interesting point, the time spent in prison can definitely have an equal or even greater impact on interpersonal relationships than their childhood trauma. I think the details of interpersonal relationships in prison would seem strange from anyone outside of that system.