Childhood Physical Abuse and Adult Criminality: The Effect of These Childhood Experiences in Increas

Abstract

Physical abuse is the second most common form of cruelty against children. This purpose of this article is to determine whether this severe social issue increases the likelihood of drug abuse and violence in adulthood. The discovery may be made by using a longitudinal study of individuals under the care of Child Protective Services (CPS) from childhood to their adult lives, as later described in this article. It is hypothesized that there is a positive correlation between CPA, such as hitting with hands or weapons, and substance abuse and violence, such as assault, child victimization, or domestic violence occurrences, in adult life. We concentrate on delinquent activity because it is one of the most socially expensive possible outcomes of childhood physical abuse (CPA), and because the proposed mechanisms associating childhood maltreatment with crime are reasonably well exposed in literature. The initial survey, consisting of questions regarding child abuse, would be made available at the NJ Division of Youth and Family Services, for children in the Kinship Care Program, which serves children who are under the supervision of DYFS. The participants would initially take part in the survey at 10 years old and, then again, at 14. When the participants are 18 and 26, researchers would hold an investigation of their public records, in order to calculate and examine any reports of adult violence and/or substance abuse.

Childhood Physical Abuse and Adult Criminality:

The Effect of These Childhood Experiences in Increasing an Individual's

Substance Abuse and Violent Tendencies in Adult Life

The matter of child abuse has been noted as the leading cause of serious injuries and fatalities in children and adolescents throughout history. Physical abuse, the second most common form of child maltreatment, after neglect, varies in definition by U.S. state, but is generally described as any physical act by a caregiver that results in a child being harmed or wounded (Coombs, 2005). Physical abuse may range in severity from minor bruising to death (Dedel, 2010). Children are essentially put in great danger due to their small physical build and weakness; they cannot inhibit their abusers or fight back in the same way individuals of stronger physical builds would be able to (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994). Both criminal justice agencies and psychological researchers have studied child abuse demographics, and have come to the conclusion that no class, race, or culture is invulnerable (Creighton, 1991). Statistics suggest that adolescents, ages twelve to nineteen, are affected by assault, rape, and robbery two to three times more than adults; the only violent crime category in which adults’ victim rate is higher than children is homicide (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994). Parents who were abused as children have a greater incidence of abusing their own children (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). Estimations of the rate of intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment have stretched from 7 per cent (Gil, 1970) to 70 per cent (Egeland and Jacobvitz, 1984, as cited in National Research Council, 1993).

As individuals grow older and experience role transitions, the pressures of employment, marriage, and parenthood often cause a greater extent of stress in their lives. Unfortunately, coping with life stressors might be exacerbated by the emotional distress of coping with historical abuse. People who are devoted to their established roles will be reluctant to jeopardize them by committing crimes; therefore, devotion to one’s established roles might be viewed as a protective factor against adult misbehavior. However, those who have had difficulties adjusting or are not dedicated to their roles, due to stress and possibly childhood traumas, may turn to substance abuse or violent behavior (Sienneck & Osgood, 2008). Substance abuse has been defined as the use of chemical substances that lead to an amplified risk of problems and an inability to control the use of the substance (Collins, McAllister, & Adury, 2010); regrettably, the exploitation of lawful and unlawful prescriptions and drugs, as well as alcohol and tobacco, is a cultivating setback in the adult population (U.S. Department of Health, 1997). Violence, one class of aggression, has been defined as behavior that deliberately causes, or tries to cause, physical harm; other aggressive behaviors include hostile, destructive, or threatening conduct, produced in nonphysical manners (U.S. Department of Health, 1997). Childhood victimization has been suggested to lead to substance abuse, as well as aggressive behavior and violence (U.S. Department of Health, 1997). Widom and Hiller-Sturmhöfel (2001) found that women who had experienced childhood abuse were more likely to have alcohol problems as adults than other women and that women undergoing alcoholism treatments were more likely to have been victims of childhood abuse than other women (Widom & Hiller-Sturmhöfel, 2001).

Past research examined the consequences of severe childhood abuse on adolescents and early adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood regarding criminality (De Sanctis, Nomura, Newcorn, & Halperin, 2012). The researchers accounted for other known risk factors, such as early conduct disorder and comorbid disorders, and a longitudinal study of 7-year-old children with ADHD was conducted, in which the children were evaluated for physical abuse and conduct disorder (De Sanctis et al., 2012). The process was repeated 3 years later and, when the individuals became young adults, criminal records were acquired. Children with ADHD were at a high risk of childhood abuse and later criminality. Moderate to severe childhood abuse caused a greater risk of future criminal behavior and recidivism than childhood conduct disorder (De Sanctis et al., 2012). Several other scholars, who were also interested in the topics of childhood physical abuse and adult criminal and aggressive behavior, have conducted additional research.

“Following the analysis of middle-aged men and women, using self-reported measures of parental childhood physical abuse, mental health (depression, anxiety, anger), physical health (physical symptoms and medical diagnoses), family background, and childhood adversities, Springer, Sheridan, Kuo, and Carnes (2007) concluded that childhood physical abuse resulted in longstanding undesirable adult mental health.” Individuals who experienced childhood physical abuse had a greater chance of experiencing anxiety, anger, and depression, as well as physical symptoms and medical diagnoses, decades later, than individuals who were not physically abused as children (Springer et al., 2007). Similarly, Klika, Herrenkohl, and Lee (2012) examined the expectation of antisocial behavior from physical child abuse and the role of school commitment, dropout, and IQ, all of which were hypothesized to modify the path of antisocial behavior from childhood into the adult years. After the analysis of data from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, findings indicated a significant connection between physical child abuse and initial antisocial behavior; physical child abuse was determined to be a predictor of antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood. At the same time, initial antisocial behavior was understood as a predictor of aggressive behavior in adolescence, which predicts the same behavior in adulthood (Klika et al., 2012). Physically abused children with high IQs were suggested to develop antisocial behavior less than those with lower IQs (Klika et al., 2012).

Abused, mistreated, or neglected children tend to essentially score lower on cognitive measures and achieve less in school compared to non-abused peers of similar socioeconomic backgrounds (Lowenthal, 1999). This lack of cognitive development and achievement might cause individuals to be emotionally unhealthy and feel less successful in their adult years, ultimately causing them to turn to substance abuse or commit violent acts. Comprehending the nature of the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adult aggression and substance abuse is crucial to ending the cycle of drug abuse and violence (Moss & Tarter, 1993). In order to determine the connection between this abuse and adult criminal behavior, this researcher would evaluate children, in Child Protective Services, through self-report surveys, which evaluate childhood abuse, and, later, use public records, in order to examine their adult criminality rate. This research would address various limitations of the existing literature on child abuse and adult substance abuse and violence; we would use a large sample from 10 different New Jersey counties, and investigate different types of physical abuse in a similar framework. Subsequently, we would examine the extent to which the effects of maltreatment vary with socio-economic status, based on region of residence, gender, and the severity of the maltreatment. Anticipated connections might educate individuals on the prospective causes, as well as outcomes, of committing child abuse or allowing it to occur.

It was hypothesized that childhood physical abuse may lead to adult criminality, specifically violence and substance abuse. This study would answer the following questions. Which forms of physical child abuse, such as the use of weapons, leave negative impacts or initiate the birth of criminal behavior? How likely is it that today's maltreated children will become tomorrow's abusive parents? What historical and/or demographic factors influence whether an abused child goes on to become an abusive adult? The purpose of this article is to discover any possible links between childhood physical abuse, such as hitting with hands or weapons, and substance abuse and violence, such as assault, child victimization, or domestic violence occurrences, in adult life.

Method

Participants

There would be a total of 428 participants to partake in the entire longitudinal study conducted, regarding childhood physical abuse and adult criminality. The randomly chosen participants would be children in 4th grade, who are under the care of Child Protective Services. The participants would be re-evaluated as adolescents in 8th grade and further investigated as early adults at the age of 18 and adults at the age of 26 (Armstrong, 2008). The following information demonstrates an example of possible methods for this longitudinal study. An original sample (n = 446) is gender balanced: 218 (49%) males and 228 (51%) females. The racial and ethnic composition of the sample is reasonably consistent, but coherent overall with the disposition of the 10-county NJ area from which participants were selected: 0.6% (n = 3) American Indian/Alaska Native, 0.1% (n = 1) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 14.8% (n = 66) Black or African American, 73.0% (n = 326) White, 2.1% (n = 9) more than one race, and 9.4% (n = 50) Asian. Just over 19.3% (n = 86) self-identify as Hispanic or Latino, and 56.8% (n = 253) self-identify as not Hispanic or Latino. Approximately 21.25% reside in Bergen County, NJ, while 18% resided in Camden County, 14.5% in Salem County, 12% in Morris County, 10.25% in Essex County, 9% in Middlesex County, and 5.75% in Ocean County. Roughly 4% resided in Hunterdon County and 3.25% in Union County, while the remaining 2% resided in Atlantic County.

Apparatus

The questionnaire, in which the 4th and 8th grade students took, was made up of 40 questions. Every student involved in the longitudinal study was under the care of Child Protective Services. The opening instructions of the assessment advised participants that answering questions, which made them feel uncomfortable, was not mandatory; About 99% of the participants answered every question on the survey. The initial five questions involved gender, age, grade, ethnicity, and county of residence. The following 20 questions involved symptoms of child abuse, such as fear of guardian or frequency of abuse. A few examples of these statements, regarding child abuse, are “After a bad day, my parent blamed me” and “Someone has used a belt to hit me.” Another question asked if the students ever lived in foster care, which may be indicative of the most severe, substantiated abuse. These questions included answers labeled “never”, “almost never”, “sometimes”, “many times”, “all of the time”, and “I prefer not to answer.” These responses ranged on a 1 to 5 scale, with the no abusive behavior as the first point and the most abusive behavior as the fifth point; the option to skip the question was not included in this 1 to 5 point scale, but was offered in the initial instructions.

When it became time to investigate the individuals at 18 years old, three participants were deceased, 10 refused, and 15 were unreachable. Rather than asking the 428 participants to fill out another questionnaire, public records were investigated to discover whether the remaining participants had been arrested for drug use or violent behavior. Drug use was calculated on a scale of 1 to 3, with zero arrests as the first point, 1 to 2 as the second point, and 3 or more as the third point. Differences between mild and severe drugs were also taken into account. Violence was calculated on a three-point scale, with zero arrests for violence as the first point, 1 to 2 as the second point, and 3 or more as the third point. Degree of violence, including child victimization inflicted by the participant to a child, assault, and/or accounts of murder, was also taken into account.

Procedure

The study involved in this research was comprised of 40 questions regarding childhood abuse, and, years later, an investigation of public records, concerning adult violence and drug abuse. The initial survey was available at the NJ Division of Youth and Family Services, for children in the Kinship Care Program, which serves children who are under the supervision of DYFS. A participant would not be able to partake in the study if he or she did not reside in one of the selected NJ counties. The minimum duration that a student took to complete the questionnaire was 10 minutes, while the maximum was 32 minutes. The mean duration of the study was 16.18 minutes. When the participants were 14 years old, those who were no longer under the care of CPS were mailed a consent form and brief letter asking if their guardians would allow them to continue taking place in the survey once again. Subsequently, scholars involved in the establishment of this study researched and investigated participant public records, when the clients were 18 and 26 years old. Each of these investigations took researchers approximately 6 months.

References

Collins, G., McAllister, M., & Adury, K. (2010). Drug Abuse and Addiction. Psychiatry and Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/ diseasemanagement/psychiatry-psychology/drug-abuse-and-addiction/

Coombs, R. (2005). Family Therapy Review: Preparing for Comprehensive and Licensing Examinations (1st ed., pp. 396-398). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dedel, K. (2010). The Problem of Child Abuse and Neglect in the Home. Problem-Oriented Policing, (55). Retrieved from http://www.popcenter.org/problems/child_abuse

De Sanctis, V., Nomura, Y., Newcorn, J., & Halperin, J. (2012). Childhood Maltreatment and Conduct Disorder: Independent Predictors of Criminal Outcomes in ADHD Youth. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 36(11-12), 782-789. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.08.003

Gil, D.G. (1970), Violence against Children: Physical Child Abuse in the United States, Harvard Univeristy Press, Cambridge, MA.

Klika, J., Herrenkoh, T., & Lee, J. (2012). School Factors as Moderators of the Relationship between Physical Child Abuse and Pathways of Antisocial Behavior. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(4), 852-867. doi:10.1177/0886260512455865

Moss, H., & Tarter, R. (1993). Substance Abuse, Aggression, and Violence. The American Journal on Addictions 2(2): 149-160. doi:10.1111/j.1521-0391.1993.tb00215.x

National Research Council (1993), Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect, National Academy Press, Washington DC.

Siennick, S.E. & Osgood, D.W. (2008). A Review of Research on the Impact on Crime of Transitions to Adult Roles. In A.M. Liberman (Ed.), The Long View of Crime: A Synthesis of Longitudinal Research (pp. 161-187). New York: Springer.

Springer, K., Sheridan, J., Kuo, D., & Carnes, M. (2003). The Long-term Health Outcomes of Childhood Abuse: An Overview and a Call to Action. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(10), 864–870-864–870. doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20918.x

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1997). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, (38). Retrieved from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa38.htm

Widom, C., & Hiller-Sturmhöfel, S. (2001). Alcohol Abuse as a Risk Factor for and Consequence of Child Abuse. Alcohol Research & Health, 25(1), 52-57. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=200685

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