Helping prevent adverse childhood experiences

Significant funding has been secured for an innovative project in South Wales aimed at breaking what many term the “generational cycle of crime”.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) which include verbal, physical and sexual abuse, as well as domestic violence, are increasingly being recognised as a cause of offending among adults.

It’s extremely depressing to see research which shows that children who suffer adverse childhood experiences, which include the imprisonment of a parent, are 15 times more likely to perpetrate violence, 16 times more likely to have used crack cocaine or heroin, and 20 times more likely to be incarcerated themselves.

Of course, it must be pointed out that not all children who have ACEs go on to repeat the behaviour of their parents. Many of those who have had difficult childhoods go on to live hugely successful lives.