Is child maltreatment a leading cause of delinquency?
This article explores the assumption that child maltreatment is a major cause of juvenile delinquency. Although this relationship is widely accepted as fact, the research that exists in the literature so far is inconclusive at best, and at worst, deeply flawed. For too long, juvenile justice resources have been channeled into the apprehension and processing of youthful offenders, while relatively few dollars have gone into the research necessary to formulate a coherent strategy for solving the juvenile crime problem. Without funding for this much-needed research, the money we do spend on the control and prevention of juvenile crime is blindly spent.
Schwartz
I M
IM
School of Social Work/Center for the Study of Youth Policy, University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, Philadelphia.
Rendon
J A
JA
Hsieh
C M
CM
D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D011640:Public Policy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012106:Research / Q000592:standards; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D015983:Selection Bias; D014481:United States