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The Cycle of Violence

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The Cycle of Violence U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice Charles B. DeWitt, Director September 1992 The Cycle of Violence By Cathy Spatz Widom Does childhood abuse lead to adult While most members of both groups had and interviewing a large sample of the criminal behavior? no juvenile or adult criminal record, being previously abused and neglected children abused or neglected as a child increased How likely is it that today's abused to draw a more complete picture of the the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 and neglected children will become consequences of childhood victimization. percent, as an adult by 38 percent, and for tomorrow's violent offenders? The remainder of this report presents Phase a violent crime by 38 percent. I results in greater detail and introduces In one of the most detailed studies of the preliminary findings from Phase 11. The "cycle of violence" hypothesis sug- issue to date, research sponsored by the gests that a childhood history of physical National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found abuse predisposes the survivor to violence Study design that childhood abuse increased the odds of in later years. This study reveals that vic- future delinquency and adult criminality tims of neglect are also more likely to Several important design features distin- overall by 40 percent. The study followed develop later criminal violent behavior as guish this research from prior efforts to 1,575 cases from childhood through young well. This finding gives powerful support study the intergenerational transmission of adulthood, comparing the arrest records of to the need for expanding common con- violence.' First, by following a large num- two groups: ceptions of physical abuse. If it is not only ber (1,575) of cases from childhood 0 A study group of 908 substantiated violence that begets violence, but also through adolescence into young adulthood, cases of childhood abuse or neglect proc- neglect, far more attention needs to be this "prospective" study was able to exarn- essed by the courts between 1967 and 1971 devoted to the families of children whose ine the long-term consequences of abuse and tracked through official records over "beatings" are forms of abandonment and and neglect. The sample, drawn from a the next 15 to 20 years. severe malnutrition. An example of inter- metropolitan area in the Midwest, was vention for the prevention of neglect is restricted to children who were 11 years or 0 A comparison group of 667 children, described later in this Research in Brief. younger at the time of the incident of abuse not officially recorded as abused or ne- or neglect. At the time that juvenile and glected, matched to the study group ac- The first phase of this study relied on arrest criminal records were checked, subjects cording to sex, age, race, and approximate records to measure delinquency and crimi- ranged in age from 16 to 33; most were family socioeconomic status. nality. A second phase calls for locating I From the Director Family violence-particularly violence methods have been considered for estimat- year dealing with the consequences of child against children-is a critical priority for ing its extent. None has examined its effect abuse. In addition, NU will support a criminal justice officials, political leaders, on the later behavior of children as does the multisite study in this fiscal year of child and the public we serve. Statistics indicate NIJ study reported in this Research in Brief. abuse prosecution and a study on how the that the Nation experiences around a half- justice system has addressed this critical million instances of family abuse annually; Some of the findings are startling. For ex- problem. more than 20,000 of these cases involve ample, being abused or neglected as a child children as victims. increased the likelihood of arrest as a juve- nile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 per- Family violence can be considered from a cent. andfor a violent crime by 38 percent. Charles B. DeWitt variety of different perspectives: criminal Director justice, psychology, sociology, and econom- I have made child abuse a priority at NIJ, National Institute of Justice ics. Studies have produced varying estimates and this is the first in a series of five Re- of the magnitude of family violence; various search in Brief reports NIJ will publish this between ages 20 and 30, with a mean age sexual desires," "fondling or touching in swer, shown in exhibit 3, was evident: of 25. an obscene manner," rape, sodomy, and those who had been abused or neglected as incest. children were more likely to be arrested as Matching members of the study group to juveniles (26 percent versus 17 percent), as others whose official records showed no Neglect cases represented extreme fail- adults (29 percent versus 21 percent), and childhood abuse or neglect was an equally ure to provide adequate food, clothing, for a violent crime (1 1 percent versus 8 important feature of the research. This shelter, and medical attention to children. percent). The abused and neglected cases design allowed the study to separate the Family members (often parents) were the were also more likely to average nearly 1 effects of known correlates of delinquency primary perpetrators of the abuse and year younger at first arrest (16.5 years and criminality (age, sex, race, and socio- neglect. The most frequent type of perpe- versus 17.3 years), to commit nearly twice economic status) from the experience of trator varied. however. by type of maltreat- as many offenses (2.4 percent versus 1.4 abuse and negiecr. Both groups were ap- ment (see exhibit 2). percent), and to be arrested more proximately two-thirds white and one-third frequently (17 percent of abused and ne- black and were about evenly divided be- Juvenile court and probation records were glected cases versus 9 percent of compari- tween males and females. Most were be- the source of information on the abuse and son cases had more than five arrests). tween 6 and 11 years old at the time the neglect, as well as the characteristics of the abuse was documented (see exhibit 1). family. Arrest data were obtained from Sex. Experiencing early child abuse or Federal, State, and local law enforcement neglect had a substantial impact, even on The study design also featured clear opera- records. Recognizing that much child individuals with little likelihood of engag- tional definitions of abuse and neglect. abuse (as well as later delinquent and ing in officially recorded adult criminal Combined with large sample sizes, this criminal behavior) never comes to the behavior. Thus, although males generally permitted the separate examination of attention of any official authority, Phase I1 have higher rates of criminal behavior than physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect, will supplement these official records with females, being abused or neglected in defined as follows: interview results. childhood increased the likelihood of arrest Physical abuse cases included injuries for females-by 77 percent over compari- such as bruises, welts, bums, abrasions, Study findings son group females. As adults, abused and lacerations, wounds, cuts, bone and skull neglected females were more likely to be fractures, and other evidence of physical Of primary interest was the question, arrested for property, drug, and misde- injury. "Would the behavior of those who had meanor offenses such as disorderly con- duct, curfew violations, or loitering, but Sexual abuse involved such charges as been abused or neglected be worse than those with no reported abuse?" The an- not for violent offenses. Females in general "assault and battery with intent to gratify are less likely to be arrested for street violence and more likelv to amear in sta- tistics on violence in the homk: Through Exhibit 1. Demoara~hicCharacteristics interviews, Phase I1 will examine the inci- dence of unreported violence to learn more about the possible existence of hidden cycles of family violence. Race. Both black and white abused and neglected children were more likely to be 70 AbusedINeglected Groups " 1 arrested than comparison children. How- -ison Groups ever, as shown in exhibit 4, the difference between whites was not as great as that between blacks. In fact, white abused and neglected children do not show increased likelihood of arrest for violent crimes over comparison children. This contrasts dra- matically with the findings for black chil- dren in this sample who show significantly increased rates of violent arrests, compared with black children who were not abused or neglected. This is a surprising finding and one that may reflect differences in an array of environmental factors. Phase I1 will investigate a number of explanations for these results, including differences in poverty levels, family factors, characteris- tics of the abuse or neglect incident, access Males Females White Black 0-3 yrs 4-5 yrs 6-11 yrs to counseling or support services, and treatment by juvenile authorities. 7- Juvenile record. Previously abused or " neglected persons were at higher risk of Exhibit 2. Perpetrators of Abuse and~e~lecl beginning a life of crime, at a younger age, with more significant and repeated crimi- nal involvement. Notably, however, among those arrested as juveniles, abused PHYSICAL ABUSE or neglected persons were no more likely Mother to continue a life of crime than other Father children: Stepmother 0 In both groups, roughly the same pro- Stepfather P~GXof children with jwenile &i&S also had arrests as adults (53percent ver- Grandmother sus 50 percent). Grandfather 0 Similarly, in both groups, about the Related Adult same proportion of those with violent juve- Legal Guardian nile arrests also had violent arrests as Known Adult adults (34.2 percent versus 36.8 percent).
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