Traumatic Sequelae of Exposure to Street Gangs in Young Women Placed in Residential Care During Adolescence: Examining the Dose-Response Relationship

ABSTRACT

Exposure to street gangs in girls represents a complex trauma experience due to many reasons, including their complicated relationships with male gang members, repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events within the gang setting, and the developmental stage of adolescence when gang exposure typically occurs. However, research exploring the various complex trauma symptoms associated with gang exposure among girls has been sparse. Therefore, using a longitudinal design, this study examined the impact of adolescent girls’ street gang exposure on complex trauma symptoms in emerging adulthood, considering the influence of previous traumatic experiences in childhood. The study involved 110 adolescent girls admitted at two residential care centers in Montreal, Canada, between January 2008 and October 2009. It analyzed the effects of both initial occurrence and recurrence of exposure to street gangs. The findings demonstrated the harmful effects of repeated and prolonged exposure to street gangs during adolescence and emerging adulthood on a wide range of complex trauma symptoms, including post-traumatic stress, insecure attachment, externalization, and somatization. These findings emphasize the need for implementing trauma-informed approaches when addressing the challenges faced by girls who have been exposed to street gangs.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescence
• adolescent girls
• complex trauma
• emerging adulthood
• longitudinal study
• post-traumatic stress
• residential care
• street gangs

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the participants of this study for their valuable time and cooperation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics approval

This research has been approved by the Comité éthique de la recherche Éducation et sciences sociales de l’Université de Sherbrooke.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Canada Research Chair in Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Young Women [950-231433], Canada Research Chair on Adolescent Delinquency [950-228381], Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [435-3012-0812], Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et Culture [2016-PF-196085] and the Institut universitaire Jeunes en difficulté.