Cycle of Violence Revisited

• NCJ Number: 184206
• Author(s): Cathy Spatz Widom Dr.; Michael Maxfield Dr.
• Date Published: February 1996
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research Preview
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

A series of ongoing studies was conducted to examine the lives of 1,575 children identified in court cases who were victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect during the 1967-1971 period.

Abstract

During 1987 and 1988, researchers examined the criminal records of sample and control group members and compiled histories for all non-traffic offenses at local, State, and Federal levels. In 1994, researchers again examined arrest records of both sample and control groups. In the late 1980's, 28 percent of the sample group had been arrested, 11 percent for a violent crime. Of the control group, 21 percent had been arrested, 8 percent for a violent crime. By 1994, 49 percent of the sample group, most of whom were then in their late 20's and early 30's, had been arrested for some type of non-traffic offense, compared to 38 percent of the control group. Eighteen percent had been arrested for a violent crime, and arrest rates were 25 percent higher among black victims. Neglected children's arrest rates for violence were almost as high as rates for physically abused children. Researchers recommend further study on causes of the race-specific risk of arrest for blacks.