Female murderers: Examination of the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and anger expression

Abstract

Adverse childhood period and abuse experiences may lead to some problems later in life. One of these problems is aggressive behavior, which is thought to be a reflection of the child’s increasing anger (Page, 2004; Olive, 2007). Based on the fact that negative childhood experiences can lead to aggressive emotions, investigating the relationship between traumatic childhood experiences and female convicts’ aggression expression styles was considered important.Sample of the research consists of 77 females who are homicide convicts selected from correctional institutes in three different cities. Data gathered from the participants were examined by using the Turkish versions of The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and The State-Trait Anger Scale.A positive and meaningful relationship between childhood trauma experiences and trait anger levels of participants was observed. In addition, there was a significant relationship between childhood trauma experiences and domestic violence as well as perceived problematic relationship with family members during childhood. Trait anger and internal anger were also found to be significantly related to perceived problematic relationship with family members during childhood. Results of the analyses were discussed in detail.