Does Child Maltreatment Predict Adult Crime? Reexamining the Question in a Prospective Study of Gender Differences, Education, and Marital Status

Bivariate analyses of adult crime and child maltreatment showed that individuals who had been maltreated as children, according to child welfare reports, subsequently committed more crime than others who had not been maltreated. Analyses of crimes by category-property, person, and society-provided further evidence of a link between child maltreatment and crime at the bivariate level. 

Tests of gender differences showed that crime generally is more prevalent among males, although females with a history of maltreatment were more likely than those in a no-maltreatment (comparison) group to report having had some prior involvement in crime. 

Surprisingly, multivariate analyses controlling for childhood socioeconomic status, gender, minority racial status, marital status, and education level showed that, with one exception (crimes against society), the significant association between child maltreatment and crime observed in bivariate tests was not maintained. 

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By: Jung H1, Herrenkohl TI2, Klika JB3, Lee JO4, Brown EC5.

• 1University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA hzjung@uw.edu.
• 2University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 3University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
• 4University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
• 5University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.