Childhood Victimization and Delinquency, Adult Criminality, and Violent Criminal Behavior: A Replication and Extension. Final Report

摘要

Childhood victimization and violent offending are two widespread and serious social problems that continue to confront our society today. The present research has four major goals: (1) to document the prevalence of delinquency, adult criminality and violence in a new cohort of abused and/or neglected children and matched controls, representing a different geographic area (Northwest), time period (1980's) and ethnic composition (to include Native American youth); (2) to examine the extent to which there are gender and ethnic differences in the relationship between childhood victimization and crime and violent offending; (3) to determine the extent to which different types of maltreatment (physical and sexual abuse and neglect) are associated with increased risk of subsequent delinquent, adult, and violent criminal behavior; and (4) to examine the extent to which placement experiences mediate delinquent and criminal consequences. Substantiated cases of child abuse and/or neglect (n=877) from court dependency records during the years 1980-1984 were selected from court files in a large urban area of the State of Washington. A control group of children matched on the basis of age, race/ethnicity, gender and approximate family social class were also identified. Juvenile and adult arrest record data was collected from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies through 1998 (approximately 15-24 years following dependency). The findings strongly support the relationship between child abuse and neglect and delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior.