NCJ Number
188617
Journal
Trooper Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 63-66,69,71,73,74
Date Published
2001
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a study designed to determine the risk that individuals who had been sexually abused as children would engage in future criminal behavior.
Abstract
Research has found evidence for a "cycle of violence," in that people who were abused and neglected in childhood were more likely than those who were not abused to become involved in criminal behavior, including violent crime, later in life. The current study examined the official criminal histories of a large number (n=908) of individuals whose sexual victimization during childhood had been validated. These victims of sexual abuse were compared with cases of physical abuse and neglect as well as to a control group of individuals who were closely matched in age, race, sex, and approximate family socioeconomic status. Official arrest records were used as the source of information for delinquency and crime. Generally, those who experienced any type of maltreatment during childhood -- whether sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect -- were more likely than those not maltreated to be arrested later in life. This was true for juvenile as well as adult arrests. In cases of sexual abuse the risk for criminal behavior is no greater than for other types of maltreatment. Those who were sexually abused were about as likely as neglect victims to be arrested for any sex crime and less likely than victims of physical abuse. Child sexual abuse victims were more likely than other groups to be charged with prostitution than victims of physical abuse and neglect. The majority of the sexually abused children in this study did not have an official criminal history as adults, suggesting that the link between early childhood sexual abuse and later delinquent and adult criminal behavior was not inevitable. Implications were drawn for policy and future research. 4 tables and 16 notes