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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT AND LATER SOCIALLY DEVIANT BEHAVIOR - A REPORT

NCJ Number
51167
Date Published
1978
Length
335 pages
Annotation
DATA FROM CHILD PROTECTIVE AGENCIES AND COURTS IN EIGHT NEW YORK COUNTIES ARE ANALYZED IN A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHILD ABUSE/NEGLECT AND SUBSEQUENT CONTACTS WITH THE COURTS.
Abstract
THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN BROOME, ERIE, KINGS, MONROE, NEW YORK, ST. LAWRENCE, SUFFOLK, AND WESTCHESTER COUNTIES. TWO SEPARATE SAMPLES OF CHILDREN WERE STUDIED: 5,136 CHILDREN FROM 1,423 FAMILIES REPORTED FOR SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT IN 1952 OR 1953; AND 1,963 CHILDREN WHO WERE REPORTED TO THE FAMILY COURT OR PROBATION INTAKE SERVICE AS DELINQUENT OR UNGOVERNABLE IN 1971 OR 1972. AS MANY AS 50 PERCENT OF THE FAMILIES REPORTED FOR CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT HAD AT LEAST ONE CHILD WHO WAS LATER TAKEN TO COURT AS DELINQUENT OR UNGOVERNABLE. IN MONROE COUNTY, THE RATE OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND UNGOVERNABILITY AMONG CHILDREN REPORTED AS ABUSED OR NEGLECTED WAS FIVE TIMES GREATER THAN AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION. IN COUNTIES WITH HIGH NUMBERS OF AGENCY/COURT CONTACTS (ERIE, KINGS, MONROE, AND NEW YORK), 25 PERCENT OF THE BOYS AND 17 PERCENT OF THE GIRLS WITH AT LEAST ONE FOUNDED MALTREATMENT REPORT WERE LATER REPORTED TO A COURT AS DELINQUENT OR UNGOVERNABLE. DELINQUENT CHILDREN WHO WERE REPORTED AS ABUSED OR NEGLECTED TENDED TO BE MORE VIOLENT THAN OTHER DELINQUENTS. HOWEVER, CHILD MALTREATMENT IS NOT AN INDICATOR OR PREDICTOR OF ANY PARTICULAR TYPE OF JUVENILE MISCONDUCT. THE RECORDS EXAMINED SHOW THAT FEW SERVICES WERE PROVIDED TO ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN OR THEIR FAMILIES, AND THAT MOST OF THE FOUNDED REPORTS OF ABUSE/NEGLECT ENDED IN NO ACTION. THE FINDING THAT RATES OF PLACEMENT OF THE CHILD OUTSIDE THE HOME WERE HIGHER FOR NEGLECT THAN FOR ABUSE INDICATES THAT NEGLECT IS A MORE INTRACTABLE PROBLEM THAN ABUSE; SIMILARLY, PLACEMENT RATES WERE HIGHER FOR UNGOVERNABILITY THAN FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENCY. THE FINDINGS ALSO SHOW THAT CHILDREN REPORTED AS ABUSED OR NEGLECTED AND AS DELINQUENT OR UNGOVERNABLE COME FROM SIMILAR FAMILIES, AND THAT THESE FAMILIES DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE GENERAL POPULATION IN THAT THEY ARE LARGER, HAVE A GREATER PERCENTAGE OF ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN, ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE ONE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS, AND ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY NONWHITE. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THERE IS AN EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ABUSE/NEGLECT AND LATER DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, BUT THAT THE RELATIONSHIP MAY BE MORE COMPLICATED THAN A SIMPLE CAUSE-AND-EFFECT ASSOCIATION. THIS COMPLEXITY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT SOCIETY'S RESPONSE TO PROBLEMS OF CHILD MALTREATMENT, JUVENILE CRIME, AND FAMILY DYSFUNCTION. AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUPPORTING DATA AND DOCUMENTATION ARE PROVIDED. A 35-PAGE SUMMARY REPORT IS AVAILABLE AS NCJ 50515. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)