Research on the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment

Childhood Maltreatment and Subsequent Offending

Researchers use two basic approaches to examine the possible link between childhood maltreatment and subsequent offending. The first approach is to sample maltreated children and follow them (retrospectively or prospectively) to observe rates of subsequent offending. The second approach is to sample juvenile or adult offenders and measure the rate at which they experienced maltreatment in childhood. Both approaches are strengthened when data on the maltreated sample group are compared with those for a nonmaltreated control group. Both approaches may use a variety of methods to define childhood maltreatment including self-reporting, referral to a CPS agency, substantiation of a CPS report, or court involvement related to childhood maltreatment victimization. Similarly, subsequent offending may be defined by selfreport, arrest, or conviction. Some studies also examine the relationship between maltreatment and subsequent at-risk behaviors such as committing status offenses, becoming pregnant as a teenager, having a low grade point average (GPA), or experiencing mental health problems. The growing body of research on these issues uses a variety of methodologies but leads to a similar conclusion: “In general, people who experience any type of maltreatment in childhood . . . are more likely than people who were not maltreated to be arrested later in life” (Widom, 1995:4).

A closer examination of this body of research provides further details on the connections between abuse and delinquency. Several studies have examined the prevalence of abuse and neglect among delinquent and criminal populations and found that these populations have strikingly higher rates of childhood abuse and neglect than the general population. National estimates in 1997 indicated that approximately 4 percent of all children were reported to child welfare agencies as alleged victims of abuse or neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 1999). In contrast:

• A study of court-referred juvenile offenders in Milwaukee County, WI, found that 66 percent of male offenders and 39 percent of female offenders previously had been victims in substantiated reports of abuse or neglect (Pawaserat, 1991).

• A study of high-risk male juvenile parolees in three States revealed that the proportion of juveniles who had allegedly been victims of abuse or neglect ranged from 29 percent in Virginia to 45 percent in Colorado to 53 percent in Nevada (Wiebush, McNulty, and Le, 2000).

Findings are similar for adult offenders. For example, an estimated 5-8 percent of the general adult male population and 12–17 percent of the adult female population in the United States were physically or sexually abused as children (Gorey and Leslie, 1997). However, a recent study of adult offenders found that 16 percent of males and 57 percent of females in State prisons had experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse (Harlow, 1999).

Several empirically based risk assessment studies conducted by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) provide additional data linking childhood maltreatment and subsequent delinquency. These studies identify jurisdiction-specific risk factors that States use to assess and classify juvenile probationers and parolees according to their likelihood of committing subsequent offenses. In at least five States—Michigan, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin (National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c, 1997, 1999)—a prior allegation or confirmation of childhood abuse or neglect has been identified as an important risk factor for continuing delinquency. In Rhode Island, for example, juvenile probationers who were childhood victims of abuse or neglect recidivated at more than 1.5 times the rate of youth who had not been victimized (71 percent versus 46 percent).

Two conceptually and methodologically important research efforts have compared maltreated children with non-maltreated children to determine the impact of maltreatment on subsequent offending in general and violent offending in particular. First, in a study that was part of the OJJDP-funded longitudinal Rochester Youth Development Study, researchers examined the official and self-reported delinquency of a general population sample of 1,000 juveniles, 16 percent of whom had substantiated reports of abuse or neglect as children (Kelley, Thornberry, and Smith, 1997). The study compared the maltreated and nonmaltreated groups on the extent and frequency of their delinquent involvement. Among the study’s key findings are the following:

• Youth who had been victims of child abuse or neglect were significantly more likely than nonvictims to have an official record of delinquency (45 percent versus 32 percent).

• Compared with youth who had not experienced childhood maltreatment, maltreated youth self-reported significantly greater involvement in delinquent behavior (79 percent versus 70 percent), serious delinquent behavior (42 percent versus 33 percent), and violent delinquent behavior (70 percent versus 56 percent).

• The frequency of official and self-reported delinquent acts was significantly higher for maltreated youth than for youth who had not been maltreated.

• As the frequency and severity of maltreatment increased, there were significant increases in the frequency of subsequent offending. In fact, the number of arrests among juveniles who had experienced multiple incidents of maltreatment (or multiple types of maltreatment or particularly severe maltreatment) as children was twice as high as the number among juveniles who had experienced less frequent or less severe maltreatment.

Second, Widom and her associates conducted a series of well-designed studies that compared the delinquent and criminal outcomes of a sample of maltreated children with those of a matched sample of nonmaltreated children (Widom, 1992; Widom, 1995; Maxfield and Widom, 1995). All the children (n=1,575) were followed through their teenage years into adulthood to determine the extent of their delinquent and criminal activity. Key findings include the following:

• Juvenile arrest rates for the two groups differed significantly: 27 percent of the maltreated children (versus 17 percent of the nonmaltreated children) were arrested as juveniles. Moreover, the maltreated children had a higher average number of juvenile arrests than the nonmaltreated children (3.0 versus 2.4).

• Adult arrest rates for the two groups were also significantly different: 42 percent of the maltreated children were arrested as adults, compared with 33 percent of the nonmaltreated children. In addition, the maltreated children had a higher average number of adult arrests (5.7 versus 4.2).

• Both the maltreated and nonmaltreated groups included a substantial number of individuals who did not offend as juveniles but who were arrested as adults. The maltreated children, however, were significantly more likely than the nonmaltreated children to evidence this “adult onset” of criminal behavior (31 percent versus 26 percent).

• The maltreated children were also significantly more likely than the nonmaltreated children to commit violent offenses as teenagers and young adults.

Childhood Maltreatment and Other At-Risk Behaviors

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to a number of other adolescent problems. Compared with nonmaltreated matched control groups, abused or neglected children are significantly more likely to engage in violent behavior, become pregnant during adolescence, use drugs, have lower GPAs, and/or experience mental health problems (Kelley, Thornberry, and Smith, 1997). (See figure 1.)

Several other studies have reached similar conclusions, indicating that maltreated children are at increased risk of both delinquency (Bolton, Reich, and Gutierres, 1977; Alfaro, 1981; English, 1997) and other problems during adolescence (Dembo et al., 1992; Silverman, Reinherz, and Giaconia, 1996). As Kelley and colleagues have noted (1997:11):

Maltreatment diminishes the likelihood that children will come through adolescence with no serious problems. Moreover, a history of childhood maltreatment nearly doubles the risk that teenagers will experience multiple problems during adolescence.

Still, most maltreated children do not become delinquents. What is it that keeps some maltreated children from being arrested as juveniles? Kelley and colleagues suggest that there may be “intervening factors, including the emergence of protective factors and the provision of effective services” (Kelley, Thornberry, and Smith, 1997:13). This Bulletin examines how CPS agencies can provide more “effective services” and potentially ward off subsequent delinquent/criminal involvement by abused and neglected children.

Preventing Delinquency Through Improved Child Protection Services	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • July 2001