Experiences in the foster care system and criminality in women

Abstract

Research has shown that adults who were placed in foster care (FC) as youth are more likely to engage in offending behaviour in adulthood than adults who were not involved in FC as youth. The current study aims to understand the factors that may drive the association between foster care involvement and criminality by comparing the experiences of 49 criminalized and 126 non criminalized women who have spent time in FC. Participants were asked via online survey about their offence history, their experiences in FC, and the circumstances that led to their placement in FC. Results suggest that adverse childhood experiences, underage alcohol use, and out-of-school status were associated with offending behaviour for women who had been involved in FC. However, contrary to the study’s hypotheses, social bonds and placement characteristics were not found to be associated with offending for this population.