Importantly, the study of personality traits can include individuals diagnosed with a personality disorder but is not constrained to diagnostics. Also, personality is not confined to intrapsychic processes but is characterized by interpersonal patterns of behaviors, commonly used defense mechanisms, and cognitive schemas for thinking about self and others. Therefore, when taking this perspective personality can be influenced by external factors like trauma and social support, for example. What is referred to as schizoid personality style appertains to a selection of personality presentations characteristic of cluster A personality organizations . They are based on descriptions and characterizations of schizoid personality as found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and relevant psychiatric case formulations . Schizoid personality describes individuals who tend to be introverted, solitary, and who engage in tangential thinking. Individuals high on schizoid traits tend to use intellectualization as a defense mechanism and display an indifference to external affairs preferring a solitary world of imagination . In other words, individuals with such personality tend to revert to reasoning in order to avoid discomfort elicited by emotional distress. And, they prefer solitude over their social environment much like an introvert would. They tend to manage emotions by avoidance, withdrawal, distrust, or escaping.Antisocial personality dimensions have been more frequently studied in relation to youths who have an offending history. There is a dearth of research on schizoid personality types and substance problems. And that despite the fact that research suggests that internalizing disorders are associated with marijuana abuse whereas externalizing disorders relate to alcohol abuse . Marijuana abuse or dependence is a commonly reported,mobile grow system co-morbid issue of juveniles and it has been considered to be associated with more severe illicit drug use . Hence, it is important to study personality types that are typically not on the radar of treatment providers’ screening procedures because of their more introverted characteristics that are less disruptive compared to aggressive and extroverted types.
From a psychoanalytic standpoint, child abuse leads to the fragmentation of the child’s sense of self. Parents have a critical role for the development of the self because they act as mirror of the child’s inner sensations and experiences, and they contribute to the child’s sense of inner coherence . The child withdraws from others as a defense from unsatisfying relationships with caregivers who were overbearing or who communicated an emotional ingenuity that significantly disrupted the integration of the I and the It, i.e., the experience of the self in its subjectivity and as an object in the outside world. Those early disruptions and deficient early child-caregiver relationships can lead to traumatic experiences that will be referred to as trauma throughout the study. Children who were abused often develop emotional dysregulation, lack of ego functioning, and primitive defense structures . The high prevalence of mental health symptoms such as anxiety, hostility, dissociation, narcissism, and depression among juvenile delinquents is considered symptomatic of high trauma levels. Similarly, personality characteristics such as impulsiveness, manipulative behavior, withdrawal and aloofness can be considered symptoms of underlying traumatic experiences. Interest in the link between personality and delinquency is not novel. For example, Glueck and Glueck found several personality traits such as narcissism, impulsiveness, hostility as well as feelings of not being recognized, to be linked to delinquency. The trauma literature has provided research on the pervasiveness of the co-occurrence of trauma and substance abuse. Drugs by altering the state of consciousness deliver a temporary relief from the fragmenting and painful experiences of trauma . Substance abuse has been frequently cited as a precursor to criminal activity, so that by targeting substance problems one is likely to impact criminal behavior as well . Substance problems unlike substance use disorders delineate problems in relationships, difficulties at school, and legal problems in relation to drug use . Yet, substance problems do not necessarily imply an excessive use of substances; rather, they denote associated psychological problems of using, which is why substance problems rather than substance use disorders were included in the analysis.
Some researchers report that the prevalence of mood and substance use disorders among incarcerated youths is two to three times higher compared to the general public . Although adolescents in general are at risk for substance problems due to the developmental phase of testing boundaries, seeking greater autonomy, and risk-taking, there is strong evidence to suggest that youths who were abused report more substance abuse than those who were not . Traumatic experiences lead to unpleasant and interfering psychological and physical sensations such as intrusions, arousal, and hyper vigilance that often are “treated” by the victim through the use of substances . In other words, substance problems are merely symptoms of deeper-rooted issues. This study conceptualizes the effects of trauma on the child as profound disturbance of the inner structure of the developing self whereby trauma is a “breaking of the continuity of the line of the individual’s existence” . Trauma, personality development, and substance problems appear to share certain pathways, in that early traumatic experiences are associated with personality types that are more prone to abuse illicit drugs due to the trauma’s impact on affect regulation and self-cohesion . When applying a psychoanalytic lens, corrective emotional experiences can occur through adequate reflection of internal sensations by others than the parents, for example, by social peers or romantic partners. Social support has been found to foster self-esteem and coping contributing to an individual’s resilience against adversity . Undoubtedly, the peer group is central in adolescents’ lives since it is a platform for identity formation and for instilling a sense of belonging . Low-risk behaviors have been linked to perceived social support by peers, family, and others among Latino/a fifth and sixth graders . A longitudinal study by Kathib, Bhui, and Stansfeld found that low social support predicted emotional symptoms related to psychological distress forBritish students who were assessed between the ages of 11 and 16 years. However, social support not only has an important role for the adolescent’s development but also for mental health treatment as it is positively related to the therapeutic alliance . A study by Garner et al. found that higher social support was associated with better problem recognition, more identified reasons for quitting drugs, and higher ratings of the therapeutic alliance . Also, research on social support recognizes that supportive networks fulfill different needs; for example, emotional, instrumental, and informational needs.
Emotional support is defined as love and compassion, instrumental support as concrete help with needs, and informational support refers to guidance and advice . In conjunction with the different needs,mobile vertical rack there are distinct sources of social support to consider. It appears that a majority of research on social support focuses on one or two sources; in the case of adolescents and children those tend to be familial systems and friends. Therefore, considering the role of a variety of distinct sources for social support including teachers, counselors, family, and friends, is indicated in order to be able to address the different needs they may fulfill. Juvenile delinquency has been studied by a variety of approaches, a recent one being through a positive, developmental lens of resilience. Resilience is a concept that is often misunderstood to represent invulnerability or resistance to negative influences. Instead resilience describes a process of strengths or protective factors interrupting a negative trajectory . It has become a prevalent conceptual and methodological approach in the medical sciences and humanities alike because it helps ascertain what factors are protective against risks of genetic predispositions for physiological illnesses and psychological disorders. Even though this study will not take a classic resilience approach, it shares some core concepts with it. First, it takes a variety of risk factors into consideration, such as trauma, maladaptive personality traits, and previous illegal activity. Second, it inserts social support as a potential protective factor against substance problems for youths released from juvenile detention. From a clinical point of view a reduction in substance abuse problems represents a positive outcome because it indicates rehabilitation and lower risk levels for on-going antisocial behaviors. Finally, this study borrows from resilience theory some important tenets, such as the idea of developmentally shaped pathways. There is an interdisciplinary consensus that, when studying youths with an offending history, researchers should adopt a developmental perspective that addresses newly emerging risk and protective factors along cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes. For example, trauma is regarded a risk factor for emerging maladaptive personality traits . Incarceration has proven to be an ineffective treatment method for youths who offended because it insufficiently, if at all, addresses mental health issues, and because it suppresses protective factors’ influence . While in detention, social support and self-esteem, for example, are not fostered in ways that would help youths build ego strength and modify their trajectories. Moreover, many drug treatment programs rely heavily on group therapy formats and emphasize the role of social support in recovery.
However, group-based modalities may not be effective for individuals with introverted personality traits who experience large group settings as uncomfortable or threatening. Resilience addresses the phenomenon that not all of the children who were traumatized develop maladaptive personality traits or other negative psychological outcomes such as internalizing problems or deviant behaviors . This leads to the assumption that there must be other factors involved, apart from the traumatic experience, that account for maladjustment. Previous resilience studies have predominantly investigated risk factors for juveniles who commit crimes and identified genetic predispositions, dysfunctional family background, mental illness, psychological distress, emotional dysregulation, and gang involvement to heighten the risk for recidivism . Generally, resilience studies are conducted within an ecological theoretical framework that stresses the influence of interpersonal environment, institutions, and societal structures on development. However, certain psychoanalytic concepts directly apply to a person’s resilience as well. For example, ego strength, ego control, and ego resiliency correspond to psychoanalytic tenets of the ego’s role in adaptation . Resilience research on developmental trauma found that children who suffered maltreatment displayed lower ego control and lower ego resiliency . Ego control and ego resiliency are concepts developed by Block and Block whereby the ability to control emotional impulses , and the ability to adjust emotionality to the context are strengths related to personality. Just like the dimensional understanding of personality, ego control and ego resiliency function on a continuum. Ego strength is a personality construct that pertains to a resilience framework. The ability to control emotions and impulses is referred to as ego strengths. Ego strength refers to psychoanalytic theory of the structure of the self and it has been related to self-awareness, psychological maturity, and adaptive personality characteristics . It is part of the self that is fundamental for organizing experiences and maintaining a cohesive sense of self. The psychoanalytic construct of the ego can be considered a resilience factor because it has an adaptive function in that it enables a person to relate his self to an outer reality . The ego integrates desires and ideals of the self, and it helps direct behavior by being grounded in reality . Therefore, ego strength is an internal protective factor against risks of fragmentation of self, dissociation, and regression. Resilience is assessed by protective factors in an adverse environment to see how they relate to adaptation in a specific domain of functioning . For example, emotional abuse and dysfunctional attachment styles put children at risk for later substance problems . As a result, a child who developed substance problems may struggle academically , but still report good social support, for example. Strengths or protective factors counter risks, and enhance the possibility for adaptation despite adversity. The challenge is to find out what protective factors work for what specific domain in an adverse context. Importantly, an asset can only be called a protective factor when a risk is present . Assets occur in the absence of significant adversity and are called promotive factors because they directly strengthen positive developmental outcomes . While vulnerability factors tend to worsen the risk effects on the individual’s functioning, protective factors act as buffers that “modify the effects of risk in a positive direction” . The community, family, and the individual’s competencies can influence vulnerability and protective factors, and thus act as active agents in the promotion of resilience.