Age, childhood trauma, and addiction are major factors leading to criminality

Eva Osborne

Age, childhood trauma, and addiction are three major connected factors involved in people falling into a life of crime.

An Oireachtas Justice Committee will discuss violence and criminality on Tuesday afternoon, including the prevalence of gender-based and domestic violence.

Dr Sharon Lambert from the school of Applied Psychology at University College Cork (UCC) will address the meeting.

Dr Lambert said the factors which lead to criminality are consistent across the world.

"Age is one of the biggest factors. People start getting involved in criminal behaviour in late teens/early adulthood," she said.

"The amount of trauma profiles that we have collected from young people involved in the criminal justice system and women involved in probation services.

"They are groups of people who have experienced significantly higher levels of trauma in their childhood than the general population."