Aggressive and criminal behavior among survivors of child abuse

Although a disproportionate number of criminals have been found retrospectively to have been victims of child abuse, prospective studies indicate that most abused children in fact do not become criminal, although they are at increased risk of delinquent behavior and arrest compared to non-abused children. Additional factors that might affect the risk of criminal behavior among abused children have received little attention. This study utilized data from a prospective study of 206 inner-city, predominantly African-American girls sexually abused in the early 1970s to investigate whether the abuse victims were at increased risk of arrest relative to a matched comparison group of 205 girls and whether the types of offenses committed by the two groups differed. Other factors in the background of the abuse victims were examined to determine what impact they had on the likelihood of arrest and self-reported aggressive behavior, based on data provided by 136 of the victims during follow-up interviews in 1990-91; such factors included measures of exposure to other forms of violence, attachments to parents and others and characteristics of the abuse experience. Compared to the matched comparison group, the abuse victims were at increased risk of arrest as adults but not as juveniles. They were more likely than their matches to be arrested for running away as juveniles and for drug offenses as adults and, throughout their life, to be arrested for violent crimes. Other maltreatment and family problems as measured by dependency hearings significantly contributed to the risk of arrest. Factors associated either with arrests or self-reported teenage or adult aggression included frequent childhood physical punishment, witnessing violence, repeat sexual victimization and weak attachments. Characteristics of the abuse were generally unrelated to any criminal or aggressive outcome. Strong attachment to a woman\u27s mother helped insulate her from involvement in abusive romantic relationships, which in turn reduced the risk that she would perpetrate violence. Child sexual victimization does not inevitably lead to criminal or aggressive behavior. Future research should focus on identification of other factors that can mitigate or exacerbate the risk of such behavior in victims