Child Abuse And Juvenile Delinquency

Child abuse in the United States continues to be a serious and escalating problem. Child abuse may set a young person onto a non-normative developmental pathway toward a range of many psychosocial, emotional, and behavioral problems. Child abuse in particular the physical and emotional abuse is associated with an increased risk of very aggressive and violent behavior. Child abuse is also positively correlated with conduct problem behavior, including aggression around the age of 17 (Maughan, D., & Moore, S. C. 2010). The purpose of this literature review is to show that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between child abuse and he likelihood of that child being involved in the justice system. In the present paper, the role child abuse plays in juvenile delinquency is examined. The long-term negative consequences of child abuse as well as neglect are likely to increase the possibility of abused and neglected youth to be involved in the juvenile justice system. The following literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support the hypothesis.

Child Abuse and Juvenile Delinquency

A large body of research exists regarding the correlation between child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency. Most of these studies all lead to a similar conclusion: “In general, children who experience any type of maltreatment are more likely than others who were not maltreated to be arrested” (Stevenson, M. C. 2009). In a national sample of 3,472 adolescents, child abuse increased the likelihood of committing violent offenses in terms of both participation rates and frequency of offending. Abused youth are 30% more likely to commit a violent offense, have an earlier onset for initiation of delinquent behaviors and are at a higher risk...

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...to change the life of that child. The more time that passes and these children go unseen, the more difficult the course of action becomes. All of these findings support the “cycle of violence” and also reinforce the need to pay attention to abuse and neglect. These children who are maltreated and neglected are at a high risk for becoming involved in crime and violence.

C. Suggestions for Future Research:

With millions of new cases of maltreatment exposed in the United States, the need to develop interventions that address problem behavior is vital. Future research on this specific topic is also necessary to help those children who are victimized and abused. For many of these youth, maltreatment is associated with maladaptive development in adolescence. There has been a large increase in the quantity of research and noted has also been the quality of the research.