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Link Between Recurrent Maltreatment and Offending Behaviour

NCJ Number
194037
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 75-94
Author(s)
Catherine E. Hamilton; Louise Falshaw; Kevin D. Browne
Date Published
February 2002
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This research examined the impact of recurrent child and adolescent abuse on the offending behaviors of 60 males and 19 females (11- to 18-years-old) residing within a secure institution in England and considered to be a risk to themselves and/or others.
Abstract
Information was obtained from admission files from the period December 1994 to May 1996. It encompassed offense history, childhood referrals, self-harming behaviors, maltreatment history, medical problems, education achievements, and family environment. To gain a more in-depth profile of the abusive/neglectful incidents experienced by the youth, additional sources were consulted, including staff assigned to work with the youth and social workers involved with the youth in the past. Overall, 20.8 percent of the sample had not experienced abuse, 6.5 percent had experienced a single incident, 11.7 percent were repeat victims (same perpetrator), 6.5 percent were revictimized (different perpetrators), and more than half (54.5 percent) had suffered both repeat victimization and revictimization. Of those who had committed a violent and/or sexual crime, 74 percent had experienced some form of revictimization, compared to 33 percent of those who committed nonviolent offenses. Those youth most likely to have committed violent and/or sexual crimes were those who had been victims of recurrent extrafamilial maltreatment (many of whom had also experienced recurrent intrafamilial maltreatment). In this sample, therefore, revictimization was associated with the commission of serious crimes. The authors advise, however, that these findings are preliminary, and prospective research with a larger sample is required. 5 tables, 1 figure, and 76 references