The review focuses on those aspects of the cycle of violence hypothesis that have received support as well as unresolved questions. Research findings provide strong support for the cycle of violence hypothesis. The experience of child abuse and neglect has a marked impact even on individuals with otherwise little likelihood of engaging in officially recorded criminal behavior. In a direct test of the violence breeds violence hypothesis, physical abuse experienced as a child led significantly to later violent criminal behavior, when other relevant demographic variables were held constant. The findings fail to show that every abused or neglected child will become delinquent, criminal, or a violent criminal. The link between childhood victimization and later antisocial and violent behavior remains far from certain, and the intergenerational transmission of violence is not inevitable. Research efforts need to focus on the processes involved. 3 tables and 37 references