Child abuse, delinquency, and violent criminality

Abstract

Most physically abused children do not become violent delinquents – at least as far as we know. However, a high proportion of delinquents, particularly violent delinquents, have been severely abused. Indeed, many, perhaps most, violent adult criminals have histories of extraordinary abuse in childhood. Thus, there is clearly an association of childhood abuse and subsequent antisocial, aggressive acts. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the relationship of these phenomena and consider some additional factors that seem to influence whether physical abuse in childhood will be followed by violence in youth and adulthood. Estimates of the extent of delinquency in the general population vary widely, depending on sources of data and criteria for delinquency. Obviously more delinquent acts are performed than ever reach the attention of the police, much less the juvenile justice system. A study in 1974 (Corbett and Vareb, 1974), using census figures, estimated that fewer than 3.75% of all children in the United States were involved with juvenile court systems in that year. A more recent study (Griffin and Griffin, 1978) estimated that, although 90% of youngsters at some time commit delinquent acts, approximately 34% are taken into police custody, and only 3% are adjudicated delinquent. Poulin and colleagues (Poulin, Levitt, Young, and Pappanfort, 1980) estimated that in the mid 1970s approximately 1.3% of juveniles were admitted to detention centers and/or adult jails annually. Those admitted to such institutions constitute a minority of those apprehended. These data provide some baseline against which to assess the relative prevalence of delinquency in youngsters known to have been abused.