Child abuse and delinquency: the empirical and theoretical links.
There is an association between child abuse and delinquency, but problems with study design, definition, and method currently prevent a definitive understanding of the sequences and causal relations involved. The evidence indicates that a bidirectional relationship exists between child abuse and delinquency. A framework that uses Patterson's analysis of coercive processes suggests that child characteristics, parental inadequacies, and external stressors each play a part in child abuse and delinquency.
School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens 30602.
P T
PT
Howing
J S
JS
Wodarski
P D
PD
Kurtz
J M
JM
Gaudin
E N
EN
Herbst
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency