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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

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Introduction Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a crippling anxiety disorder most commonly in which an individual is exposed to a traumatic event and suffer severe distress as a result of that event. Commonly associated with combat veterans, PTSD can result from a variety of traumatic events. Symptoms of PTSD include: reliving the event and intrusive thoughts, avoidance of reminders of trauma, and hyperarousal (Warner, Warner, Appenzeller, & Hoge, 2013). Trauma comes in many different forms, however some of the most common forms of trauma that juvenile offenders will experience are loss and bereavement, domestic violence, emotional abuse, and physical abuse. Trauma exposure for youth involved in the justice system can begin at a young age, with one study showing that up to one-third of youth in the justice system experienced trauma before one year of age (Dierkhising, Ko, Woods-Jaeger, Briggs, Lee, & Pynoos, 2013). Trauma and PTSD can occur in all settings and effect various individuals, so it is important to look at incarcerated juvenile offenders as well as those on probation and explore the differences between male and female offenders.
Incarcerated Offenders
There is a significant portion of juvenile offenders who do end up incarcerated in a juvenile justice facility. Researchers in Australia measured variables such as childhood abuse and neglect, psychiatric disorders and substance use, and juvenile offending and antisocial behavior in

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