Social Class, Child Maltreatment, and Delinquent Behavior

• NCJ Number: 94298
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1984) Pages: 259-278
• Author(s): S E Brown
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The relationship between social class and child maltreatment and between maltreatment and delinquency were examined, particular attention being paid to previous deficiencies in the operationalizations of maltreatment and class.

Abstract

Maltreatment was operationalized with subscales for physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, while social class was operationalized with multiple indicators. Survey data for 110 high school freshmen were analyzed and revealed the following: (a) weak but consistent inverse correlation between social class and all forms of child maltreatment, (b) a stronger relationship between social class and maltreatment when lower-class membership was operationalized in a manner consistent with the concept of an underclass, (c) that emotional abuse and neglect were correlated positively with all forms of delinquent behavior examined, and (d) that physical abuse was not correlated appreciably and positively with any form of delinquency. (Publisher abstract)