Child maltreatment in an incarcerated sample in China: Prediction for crime types in adulthood

Abstract

Abstract The consequences of child maltreatment have drawn increased attention in the West. Evidence has associated such maltreatment with mental health problems, the adult personality disorders, and subsequent criminal behavior. However, little is known about its prevalence and consequences in China, especially the relationship between child maltreatment and criminal behavior. The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to explore the prevalence of self-reported child maltreatment in an incarcerated adult sample in China, and, (2) to examine relationships between child maltreatment and offense types. A retrospective self-reported survey was administered to a sample of 2690 incarcerated adults (2410 male and 280 female) in all eleven jails in Beijing, China. For Aim 1, participants completed a self-reported survey that included Childhood Trauma Questionnaire assessing five types of child maltreatment (emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect). For Aim 2, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and logistic regression were conducted to identify the relationship between child maltreatment and crime types with the subsample of 702 male individuals with the available data from three different jails. The prevalence of child maltreatment in the sample ranged from 16.5% for emotional abuse to 91.2% for physical neglect. Almost 90% of the participants reported more than one form of child maltreatment. Men and women had significantly different rates of physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional neglect. Men reported high levels of physical abuse, whereas women reported high levels of physical neglect. Of the subgroup with the crime type records, childhood physical abuse significantly predicted violent crime, whereas sexual abuse was inversely related to violent crime. This study is the first to report on child maltreatment among a large sample of incarcerated individuals in China. Findings indicate that the prevalence of child maltreatment among this population is extremely high, and that there is a relationship between childhood physical abuse and commitment to jail for violent crimes in adulthood. The data clearly indicate the importance of developing appropriate interventions in order to prevent child maltreatment.