Disentangling the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Violent Delinquency: Using a Nationally Representative Sample

Abstract

This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. The final, definitive version of this document can be found online at Journal of Interpersonal Violence, published by SAGE. Copyright restrictions may apply.

The association between maltreatment in childhood and criminal convictions to age 24: a prospective study of a community sample of males from disadvantaged neighbourhoods

“…However, one study showed that neglect in the first 2 years of life was more strongly associated with aggressive behaviour in childhood than either neglect in childhood or than physical abuse at any age [15]. More recently, Yun et al [8] analysed a nationally representative sample of adolescents from the United States and found that Pabuse in childhood was not related to subsequent self-reported violent crimes. They suggested that this result was ''unexpected'' and hypothesised that different mechanisms might explain the association between Pabuse and subsequent violent offending among disadvantaged youth at-risk for criminal offending and general population samples.…”

“…Other studies, however, have failed to detect an association between maltreatment in childhood and subsequent criminal offending. For example, in a recent study of a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States physical abuse was not associated with subsequent violent delinquency [8]. Another study conducted in a large US city where rates of reports to child protective services were high, detected no association between maltreatment before age 4 and aggressive behaviour trajectories [9].…”

“…Different types of maltreatment may have specific associations with offending [8], and aggressive behaviour [14,15], depending on the characteristics of the sample, the age of the child when maltreated, and the additional predictors entered into statistical models estimating the association of childhood maltreatment and subsequent offending. For example, it has been proposed that neglect may result in difficulties in emotion regulation resulting from a lack of emotional interactions, whereas physical abuse may result in hypervigilance to threat and a hostile attributional bias [16].…”

Juvenile life without the possibility of parole: Constitutional but complicated

“…Children and adolescents who have been maltreated are more likely to engage in delinquent activities and more serious offending behaviors, compared to children and adolescents without a maltreatment history (Loeber & Farrington, 2001;Verrecchia, Fetzer, Lemmon, & Austin, 2010;Yun, Ball, & Lim, 2011). Due to the significant differences in outcomes of offending acts (e.g., arrest, conviction, delinquency adjudi cation), including whether official records or youthful offender selfreports were used, the link between maltreatment and delinquency may be underestimated (Maxfield, Weiler, & Widom, 2000).…”

“…All three maltreatment types (physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) have been linked to later antisocial behavior, violent crimes, and court involvement (Grogan-Kaylor, Ruffolo, Ortega, & Clarke, 2008; Lemmon, 2009;Yun et al, 2011), even in the presence of other risk factors (Loeber & Farrington, 2001;Widom & Maxfield, 2001). Research is clear that repeated maltreatment, no matter the type, has a key impact on youthful offending behavior (Arata, LanghinrichsenRohling, Bowers, & O'Brien, 2007).…”