Early Child Delinquency

The relationship between early child abuse and juvenile delinquency, as well as adult criminal behavior, has long been supported through psychological and criminological studies. It is important to recognize that though these studies show a correlation, there are many factors which contribute to delinquency and adult criminal behavior. Therefore, these studies merely show that child abuse may increase the risk for delinquency or other social problems but does not result in all abused children becoming delinquents. Through the examination of studies on child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect and maltreatment it can be seen that children who have undergone these traumatizing experiences learn to cope in different ways which may result in social and criminal deviance. The type of abuse or neglect a child suffers may act as an indicator to the type of criminal act or unhealthy coping mechanisms used later on.

However, they often result in skewed outcomes. Many studies are taken retrospectively, meaning they take a sample of delinquents and look at the number who have histories of child abuse and neglect. A more extensive, but better resulting study is one which is taken on a longitudinal basis, meaning a group of abused children is followed throughout a period of time. Another issue is a study which relies on second-hand or recall information which may be skewed by current social or life situations. Many studies have differing definitions regarding children, physical and sexual abuse, and neglect. Including studies who group abuse and neglect in the same category. It is important to address the biases which can be found in these studies in order to achieve a well-rounded analysis of the