Understanding the Link Between Childhood Maltreatment and Violent Delinquency: What do Schools Have To Add?

• NCJ Number: 219703
• Journal: Child Maltreatment Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 269-280
• Author(s): Claire V. Crooks; Katreena L. Scott; David A. Wolfe; Debbie Chiodo; Steve Killip
• Date Published: August 2007
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Data were obtained from 1,788 ninth-grade students in 23 schools in order to examine the influence of childhood maltreatment, individual-level risk factors, and school-related variables on violent delinquency.

Abstract

The study found that youth who reported engaging in violent delinquency differed from nondelinquent youth in their history of childhood maltreatment, their experience of being parented, and their connection to their schools and communities. Being male, experiencing childhood maltreatment, and low levels of adolescent-reported parental nurturing all emerged as significant predictors of violent delinquency 4 to 6 months after the start of the ninth-grade year. The character of the schools in which youth were enrolled was also significant, even after taking students' individual risk factors into account. In schools that had a climate of greater safety, ninth-grade students with the same individual profile of risk were less likely to engage in violent delinquency. Risk associated with childhood maltreatment was partially dependent on the schools in which youth were enrolled. For youth in schools with an intensive, preventative, skills-based, relationship-focused intervention, the association between maltreatment and delinquency was less compared to schools that did not have such preventative intervention. The identification of school influences suggests a need for researchers to span areas traditionally separated by psychology (individual/relational factors) and sociology (influence of the larger social network) in explaining and preventing violent delinquency. Students from 23 schools in 1 school district in southwestern Ontario, Canada, participated in the study. The data reported in this study were part of a larger randomized control trial evaluation of a comprehensive school-based violent prevention program called The Fourth R, in which schools were randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control conditions. 3 tables, 1 figure, 6 notes, and 41 references