Since the onset of China’s reform and opening up, the crime rate for women has risen sharply, emerging as a major issue of concern for judicial authorities. From 2005 to 2018, the number of women in prison in China increased from 77,279 to 140,772, representing growth of 82.16% (He et al., 2021). Wu (2018) investigated 585 women who were in prison, revealing that 17.5% had been convicted of violent crimes, including intentional homicide, manslaughter, intentional injury, robbery, group fighting, and causing trouble (e.g., picking quarrels and provoking trouble, intentional provocation, creating disputes, and disrupting social order). Violent crime fundamentally involves acts of aggression. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms for aggression among women who are in prison will not only enhance theoretical understanding of criminal behavior but also provide crucial insights and references for preventing violent crimes being committed by women.

Aggression refers to intentional physical, verbal, online, and relational acts causing substantial harm to others (Anderson & Bushman, 2002; H. Wang et al., 2024). Severe aggression can ultimately escalate into violent crime, leading to fatality or disability for the victim (Kabasakal & Baş, 2010). Studies have examined the aggression mechanisms of people in prison. For example, X. Wang and Le (2018) investigated 265 men who were in prison in Beijing, serving a sentence for crimes of violence, including homicide, intentional injury, robbery, rape, kidnapping, arson, and detonating an explosive device. They found a significant positive correlation between moral disengagement and aggression. Yang et al. (2015) examined men in prison, revealing that callousness moderated the relationship between anxiety and impulsive aggression. Further, Luo et al. (2014) found a close association between impulsive personality and aggression, highlighting that unplanned impulsivity, cognitive impulsivity, and behavioral impulsivity significantly explained anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression. Tan (2020) discovered significant differences in overt aggression among men who had been convicted of organized crime, violent offenses, and drug-related crimes, all of whom exhibited implicit aggression. The focus in these studies was on the mechanisms of aggression among men who were in prison. Moreover, studies on the general mechanisms of aggression often target adolescents and children (Lindsey et al., 2009; Paciello et al., 2008). However, there has been limited research on the aggression mechanisms of imprisoned adolescent girls and young women (Kruttschnitt & Krmpotich, 1990).

The term prisoners refers to individuals who have been convicted of a crime and are held in detention facilities, such as prisons. These individuals are deprived of their freedom because of the threat or harm their actions pose to societal safety, order, or the interests of others, and the aims of imprisonment are to achieve the purposes of punishment, prevention, and rehabilitation. Hornsveld et al. (2018) found that women who committed crimes of violence exhibited higher levels of aggression compared to men who did so. According to ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Evans, 2000), individual behavior is shaped by the surrounding environment. The family, as a microlevel environment, is considered a stressor for children, and living in a violent family environment in childhood can lead to antisocial behavior in adulthood. Research on the impact of childhood trauma on aggression among female prison inmates has been limited (Molina-Coloma et al., 2022), and previous research has overlooked the mediating role of dark personality. Therefore, in this study we introduced childhood trauma and dark personality to investigate the aggression mechanisms among young women who were serving a prison sentence in China.

Childhood trauma refers to adverse events or experiences that negatively impact the physical and psychological development of a child. Bernstein et al. (1994) classified childhood trauma into five categories: physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse. In a study conducted by Carlson and Shafer (2010) with parents who were in prison, the researchers found that, on average, each of the women had experienced childhood trauma 6.82 times. The incidence of childhood trauma among women in prison is higher compared to that of imprisoned men and other populations (Asberg & Renk, 2014). Persistent childhood trauma distorts individual cognitive and emotional development and damages neuronal growth in the brain, leading to abnormal development of brain structures, such as the prefrontal cortex and limbic system (Lee & Hoaken, 2007). Furthermore, childhood trauma significantly impacts the development of emotional regulation in individuals, triggering corresponding psychological disorders, such as depression, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder (Cesur et al., 2018; Katz et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2021). Hu et al. (2019) found that undergoing emotional abuse tends to lead individuals to experience negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem. According to emotion regulation theory, anxiety can lead to a decrease in an individual’s ability to regulate their emotions (Edwards et al., 2019). When people are unable to manage their emotions effectively, aggression may become an inappropriate means to alleviate or mitigate negative emotions (Pinheiro et al., 2020). Chung et al. (2019) found that anxiety can predict aggression. Therefore, childhood trauma experiences may be correlated with aggression among women in prison (Brewer-Smyth et al., 2004; Ma et al., 2022). On this basis, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Experiencing childhood trauma will be positively associated with aggressive behavior among incarcerated young women in China.

The dark personality refers to a cluster of antisocial traits consisting of Machiavellianism, which is cold-heartedness and manipulativeness; narcissism, which is a pattern of thinking typified by selfishness and arrogance; and psychopathy, which manifests in a propensity for violence and impulsive behavior (Brunell et al., 2011; Kish-Gephart et al., 2010; Paulhus & Williams, 2002; Williams & Paulhus, 2004). Researchers have found that, compared with men, women are more likely to internalize trauma (Pheterson, 1986), which can make their personality traits more complex (Abdollahi et al., 2021). This phenomenon may be related to social factors. Society’s expectations for women regarding emotional expression and coping styles—such as conflict avoidance, resilience, and sense of responsibility—influence how they process and adapt to trauma (Camussi & Leccardi, 2005). For example, girls who grow up in an environment where stability, care, and support are lacking may find it difficult to form healthy interpersonal relationships (Drapeau & Perry, 2004). This can lead to the development of Machiavellian traits (Láng & Lénárd, 2015), characterized by the manipulation and exploitation of others (relational aggression) for personal gain (Bacon & Regan, 2016). Additionally, childhood trauma experiences can undermine self-esteem and self-worth in women (Sorbello et al., 2002). This situation also applies to men; however, men are more likely to directly externalize trauma, exhibiting behaviors such as aggression or risk taking (Mendez et al., 2021). To compensate for this internal deficiency, individuals may excessively emphasize their own importance (Kalemi et al., 2019), exhibiting narcissistic traits such as grandiosity, a craving for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others (Green et al., 2022; Weizmann-Henelius et al., 2004). Narcissistic women often use sarcastic language (verbal aggression) to undermine others’ self-esteem (Russell et al., 2022). According to the frustration–aggression theory (Berkowitz, 1978), frustration arises when individuals’ goals are blocked, needs are unmet, or obstacles are encountered in the pursuit of their objectives. This frustration can trigger inner tension and dissatisfaction, which may subsequently lead to aggressive behavior. For example, prolonged childhood abuse and/or neglect, or severe family conflicts may impair individuals’ emotional regulation abilities (Edwards et al., 2019; Widom & Osborn, 2021), making it difficult for them to experience and express emotions normally (Pinheiro et al., 2020). This can contribute to the development of psychopathic traits (DeHart et al., 2014), leading directly to physically aggressive behaviors, such as punching and shoving (Hornsveld et al., 2018). Thus, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2: Dark personality will play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior among incarcerated young women in China.

 

Our research model is shown in Figure 1.

Before the study began we obtained approval from the Ethics Committee of the School of Education at Ludong University. According to the Medium- and Long-Term Youth Development Plan (2016–2025) of China, the age range for youth is defined as 14 to 35 years (The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, 2017). We distributed a paper survey to 156 young women (M_age = 31.52 years, SD = 3.69, range = 21–35) who were serving a prison term in China. They had been convicted for crimes including intentional injury, robbery, theft, fighting, and picking quarrels and provoking trouble. We collected 125 valid responses, employing the following method to ensure the quality of the survey content: clearly and explicitly verbally conveying to the respondents the purpose and requirements of the survey to facilitate accurate responses, utilizing an anonymous survey method and emphasizing privacy protection during the administration process, stressing that there was no time limit for completing the survey, excluding samples with significant omissions or those missing answers to more than 10% of the items, and allowing participants to withdraw from the study at any time.

We used the revised Chinese version (Fu et al., 2005) of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 2003), which consists of 28 items spanning five dimensions: physical abuse (e.g., “Someone at home beat me, leaving bruises or marks”), emotional abuse (e.g., “Someone at home said hurtful or insulting words to me”), sexual abuse (e.g., “Someone touched me in a sexual manner or made me touch them”), physical neglect (e.g., “No one at home cared about whether I was hungry or not”), and emotional neglect (e.g., “No one at home valued me”). The scale is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never, 5 = always), with higher scores indicating higher levels of childhood trauma. In this study Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .84.

 

To measure dark personality we used the revised Chinese version (Geng et al., 2015) of the Dark Personality Scale (Jonason & Webster, 2010). The scale consists of 12 items spanning three dimensions: Machiavellianism (e.g., “I tend to manipulate others for my own purposes”), narcissism (e.g., “I want others to praise me”), and psychopathy (e.g., “I lack remorse”). Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = completely disagree, 7 = completely agree), with higher scores indicating higher levels of dark personality traits. In this study Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .76.

 

To assess aggression we used the revised Chinese version (Li et al., 2011) of the Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992), which consists of 30 items divided across five dimensions: physical aggression (e.g., “Under certain circumstances, I can’t control myself and hit others”), anger (e.g., “When I am angry, I feel like a ticking time bomb ready to explode”), hostility (e.g., “When others are especially nice to me, I feel like they have an ulterior motive”), verbal aggression (e.g., “I easily get into arguments with others”), and self-directed aggressiveness (e.g., “When I feel guilty, I will punish myself”). The scale is rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not comply at all, 5 = fully comply), with higher scores indicating higher levels of aggressive behavior. In this study Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .89.

Harman’s single-factor test revealed 19 principal components with eigenvalues greater than 1. The amount of variance explained by the first factor was 21.10%, which is lower than the critical criterion of 40%, indicating that common method bias was not a significant issue.

Correlation analysis revealed that childhood trauma was positively correlated with both dark personality and aggressive behavior, and dark personality was positively correlated with aggressive behavior (see Table 1).

The mediating effect was tested using Model 4 of the PROCESS macro version 4.2 (Hayes, 2023). Childhood trauma was set as the independent variable, with dark personality variables as mediators, and aggressive behavior as the dependent variable.

 

Results indicated that childhood trauma was significantly and positively correlated with aggressive behavior among incarcerated women, such that higher levels of childhood trauma increased aggressive behavior. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was supported. When dark personality was included in the regression model, childhood trauma remained significantly and positively correlated with aggressive behavior. The 95% confidence interval for the mediating effect of dark personality did not include zero, indicating a significant partial mediating effect of dark personality between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior (see Figure 2 and Tables 2 and 3). Thus, Hypothesis 2 was supported.

First, we found that childhood trauma was significantly associated with aggressive behavior among women serving a prison term for a violent offense, which suggests that the more severe the childhood trauma, the higher the degree of aggression. This result is consistent with that of a previous study (Ma et al., 2022). Additionally, our findings support emotion regulation theory (Edwards et al., 2019), which posits that when girls experience childhood trauma this can impair their emotional regulation abilities. When women experience negative emotions, they may resort to aggressive behavior as a means to alleviate their distress. Severe aggression may further lead to violent criminal behavior in women (Kabasakal & Baş, 2010).

 

Second, we found that dark personality played a mediating role between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior. This result is consistent with that of previous research, which suggests that childhood trauma can lead to the development of dark personality, such as Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, and each of these traits can further result in aggressive behavior among girls and women who are in prison for violent offenses (Zhang et al., 2023). Our results also support frustration–aggression theory (Berkowitz, 1978), which posits that experiencing trauma deprives children of essential emotional, recreational, and social resources. When individuals encounter internal or external obstacles in the pursuit of these resources, unmet needs lead to frustration. This frustration intensifies dark personality, which, in turn, leads to aggressive behavior toward others (Hornsveld et al., 2018). Thus, dark personality mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior among incarcerated young women.

First, because of the traumatic experiences, such as physical and emotional abuse, that imprisoned women have suffered during childhood, prison authorities should provide professional psychological counseling and instruction in healthy emotional expression techniques (Day et al., 2012). They can be helped to effectively release their emotions through art therapy (e.g., painting, music) and journaling, thereby avoiding using aggression to vent their emotions. Second, the prison staff should organize frequent group activities, utilizing role playing and scenario simulations to help prisoners experience others’ feelings, enhancing their empathy (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2004). This, in turn, can help alter tendencies toward coldness, manipulation, and narcissism, gradually reducing the likelihood of aggressive behavior.

First, data collection was conducted through self-reports, which might affect data accuracy. Future studies could leverage artificial intelligence and big data technologies to collect objective data on girls and women who are in prison. Second, we employed a cross-sectional research design, which is not rigorous enough in explaining causal relationships. Future studies could use longitudinal and experimental designs to further explore the interactions between variables.

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