NCJ Number
148047
Date Published
1994
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the relationship between child abuse, including child sexual abuse and the witnessing of parental violence, and violence committed by child victims when they become adolescents or adults.
Abstract
Widom's widely known and respected study compared a sample of 908 children aged 11 or under who had been abuse or neglect victims to a matched sample of nonabused children. The analysis revealed that being abused as a child significantly increases the risk of having an adult criminal record and, for males, a violent criminal record. Other research has concluded that parricide by adolescents is the culmination of parental abuse that can no longer be tolerated. Other studies have focused on children who have witnessed spouse abuse, abuse and mental illness, abused female inmates, abused violent prisoners, child sexual abuse, and abusive family environments. Their results overwhelmingly indicate that child abuse is a correlate of future maladjustment, juvenile delinquency, criminality, and ultimately, violence. Reference notes