This study used data from 6 sites and 3 countries to examine the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood and to analyze its linkage to violent and nonviolent offending outcomes in adolescence. The results indicate that among boys there is continuity in problem behavior from childhood to adolescence and that such continuity is especially acute when early problem behavior takes the form of physical aggression. Chronic physical aggression during the elementary school years specifically increases the risk for continued physical violence as well as other nonviolent forms of delinquency during adolescence. However, this conclusion is reserved primarily for boys, because the results indicate no clear linkage between childhood physical aggression and adolescent offending among female samples despite notable similarities across male and female samples in the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood.Children's behavior problems have long been considered precursors of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality (Carpenter, 1851;Horn, 1989; Roosevelt, 1909). The development of these behavior problems during the elementary school years was the object of intensive investigations over the last quarter of the 20th century. A number of large-scale longitudinal studies in different industrialized countries used repeated measurements over many years to trace the development of behavior problems. These studies followed older pioneering longitudinal studies that were retrospective (e.g., Robins, 1966) or that had limited their prospective assessments to one time point during childhood and one or two time points during adolescence and adulthood (e.g., Lefkowitz, Eron, Walder, & Huesmann, 1977; West & Harrington, 1973).Having reviewed this long-lived literature, the U.S. National Research Council's Panel on Understanding and Preventing Violence concluded, " [I] NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript to become violent teenagers and adults" (Reiss & Roth, 1993, p, 358). There is indeed ample evidence that, at least for boys, childhood disruptive or troublesome behavior is one of the best predictors of adolescent and adult criminality, including violent offending (e.g., Farrington, 1994;Fergusson & Horwood, 1995;Huesmann, Eron, Lefkowitz, & Walder, 1984;Moffitt, 1990;Pulkkinen & Tremblay, 1992;Stattin & Magnusson, 1989;Tremblay, Pihl, Vitaro, & Dobkin, 1994). However, Nagin and Tremblay (1999) and Tremblay (2000) pointed out that extant research generally does not distinguish physical from nonphysical aggression or violence. Thus, it is only possible to conclude that disruptive or troublesome behavior during childhood predicts later delinquent behavior, not that physical aggression during childhood per se is a distinct risk factor for physical violence in adolescence or adulthood.A determination of whether physical aggression is a distinct risk factor for later physical violence is important for both conceptual and practical reasons. Conceptually, the nature of ...

This study applies Agnew's general strain theory (GST) to two fundamental questions about gender and crime: (1) How can we explain the higher rate of crime among males? (2) How can we explain why females engage in crime? With respect to the first question, the authors suggest that gender differences in types of strain and the reaction to strain help one understand the gender gap in criminal behavior. With respect to the second question, it is argued that several types of strain may lead to female crime under the proper circumstances. In this area, GST has much in common with numerous accounts that explain female crime in terms of oppression.

Tests of general strain theory (Agnew, 1992) have focused primarily on the relationship between strain and crime, ignoring the intervening role of negative emotions and legitimate coping strategies. This research provides a more comprehensive test of general strain theory, including measures of both anger and other expressions of negative affect, as well as a measure of legitimate coping. Results suggest that strain, negative emotions, and legitimate coping are all related, although not always in the expected direction. Moreover, results indicate that the nature of the link among these three variables and criminal outcomes are shaped by the types of strain and negative affect individuals experience, and by sex differences in the links among central variables.

Recent reviews of the desistance literature have advocated studying desistance as a process, yet current empirical methods continue to measure desistance as a discrete state. In this paper, we propose a framework for empirical research that recognizes desistance as a developmental process. This approach focuses on changes in the offending rate rather than on offending itsel$ We describe a statistical model to implement this approach and provide an empirical example. We conclude with several suggestions for future research endeavors that arise from our conceptualization of desistance.Most criminologists define desistance as the state of having "terminated" offending. But recently, criminologists have begun to reexamine

Criminologists tend to focus their attention on the dynamics of offending, paying only limited theoretical and empirical attention to the well-established relation between offending and victimization. However, a number of criminological theories either explicitly or implicitly predict similarities in the correlates and etiology of victimization and offending, suggesting substantial overlap across offender and victim populations. Empirical research over the last few decades confirms this overlap across offender and victim populations, at least among those involved in non-lethal incidents. This research explores whether similarities between offender and victim populations extends to homicide, using criminal justice, health care, and U.S. Census data, linked to homicide offenders and victims in Bernalillo County, New Mexico between 1996 and 2001. Our findings indicate substantial overlap in the social contexts and risk behaviors of homicide offenders and victims. However, our results also side with more recent suggestions that while many victims overlap with offender populations, there is also a group of victims that appears to be distinguishable from offender groups. These findings have important implications for both theory and intervention.

Background and objectivesIntimate partner violence (IPV) around the time of pregnancy is a serious public health concern and is known to have an adverse effect on perinatal mental health. In order to craft appropriate and effective interventions, it is important to understand how the association between IPV and postpartum depression (PPD) may differ as a function of the type and timing of IPV victimization. Here we evaluate the influence of physical, sexual and psychological IPV before, during and after pregnancy on PPD.MethodsCross-sectional survey data was collected between October 2015 and January 2016 in the Chandpur District of Bangladesh from 426 new mothers, aged 15–49 years, who were in the first six months postpartum. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between IPV and PPD, adjusted for socio-demographic, reproductive and psychosocial confounding factors.ResultsApproximately 35.2% of women experienced PPD within the first six months following childbirth. Controlling for confounders, the odds of PPD was significantly greater among women who reported exposure to physical (AOR: 1.79, 95% CI [1.25, 3.43]), sexual (AOR: 2.25, 95% CI [1.14, 4.45]) or psychological (AOR: 6.92, 95% CI [1.71, 28.04]) IPV during pregnancy as opposed to those who did not. However, both before and after pregnancy, only physical IPV evidences a direct effect on PPD. Results highlight the mental health consequences of IPV for women of Bangladesh, as well as the influence of timing and type of IPV on PPD outcomes.Conclusions and implicationsThe findings confirm that exposure to IPV significantly increases the odds of PPD. The association is particularly strong for physical IPV during all periods and psychological IPV during pregnancy. Results reinforce the need to conduct routine screening during pregnancy to identify women with a history of IPV who may at risk for PPD and to offer them necessary support.

Exclusive breastfeeding is a proven benefit for both mothers and infants and is, therefore, an important public health priority. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is regarded as one of the potential psychosocial risk factors that may negatively affect exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). This study aimed to explore the influence of psychosocial factors including IPV on EBF. Cross-sectional survey data was collected from October 2015 to January 2016 in Chandpur District of Bangladesh from 426 married women, aged 15-49 years, who had at least one child 6 months of age or younger. Multivariate logistic regression models were used in order to investigate whether women who experienced IPV after childbirth, as well as other risk factors such as postpartum depression (PPD) and childhood sexual abuse, were more likely to face difficulties with EBF compared with women who had not experienced these same risk factors. Whilst the initiation rate of breastfeeding was 99.3%, at the time of the woman's interview, the overall EBF rate had fallen to 43.7%. Based on the adjusted model, women who experienced physical IPV (AOR 0.17, 95% CI [0.07, 0.40]) and psychological IPV (AOR 0.51, 95% CI [0.26, 1.00]) after childbirth and women who reported childhood sexual abuse (AOR 0.32, 95% CI [0.13, 0.80]) and PPD (AOR 0.20, 95% CI [0.09, 0.44]) were significantly less likely to exclusively breastfeed their infants than those who had not reported these experiences. Moreover, women with an intended pregnancy and high social support exhibited a higher likelihood of EBF. Our results suggest that preventing or reducing the occurrence of physical IPV, PPD and childhood sexual abuse may improve the EBF duration. Support from family members can assist in this process.

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