NCJ Number
223338
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 25 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2008 Pages: 313-348
Date Published
June 2008
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This study examined the prevalence of childhood physical abuse among a sample of offenders to explore factors which mediated the relationship between abuse and offending, and differences by gender.
Abstract
The results reveal that physically abused offenders reported higher rates of violent, property, and total offending than nonabused offenders. The effects of abuse on violent and property crime were reduced with the introduction of demographic and juvenile offending variables, but an overall effect of physical abuse remained for total offending. Maternal support was associated with lower levels of adult offending among physically abused respondents, while school expulsion and attachment to school for nonconventional reasons (e.g., nonacademic) appeared to exacerbate the abuse-offending relationship. This article examined relationships between physical abuse and official and self-reported offending among offenders; whether offending rates varied between abused and nonabused respondents; whether the abuse-offending relationship was maintained in the presence of demographic and juvenile offending variables; and whether family and school factors mediated the abuse-offending relationship. No significant differences in prevalence rates were found for ethnicity, and rates for male and female were consistent with prior studies. Data were obtained from a sample of 480 male and female high-risk offenders serving intensive community corrections or probation orders in Queensland, Australia. The sample consisted of 60.8 percent male and 39.2 percent female, ages 18 to 68 years, with a low level of education and a high level of unemployment. Tables, references, appendix