Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

The research community and general public have yet to develop a satisfactory understanding of childhood maltreatment's long-term, psychosocial effects. Adult impact studies represent, therefore, an important body of maltreatment effects research to which this current study contributes.

The primary purpose of this investigation is to examine the main effect of childhood maltreatment on adult crime, an expected yet unestablished consequence (see English, Widom, & Brandford, 2002). A secondary purpose is to test a school-based mediation model that can help explain maltreatment's relationship to adult crime. Research questions guiding this study include the following: (1) is childhood maltreatment significantly associated with a general indicator of adult crime in the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS); (2) is childhood maltreatment significantly associated with indicators of violent and severe adult crime in the CLS, and (3) if the above relations exist do school-related variables mediate the maltreatment/crime connection, controlling for delinquency as an additional mechanism?

The CLS is a long-term, panel study of 1,539 students who participated in Chicago-area preschool and kindergarten programs from 1983-1986. The current sample (N=1,369) represents all students who lived in the Chicago area through age 10. The primary independent measure, any indicated report of maltreatment from ages 0-12, originates from official Cook County data accessed through the Chapin Hall Center for Children. Natural maltreatment and non-maltreatment groups exist within the CLS sample and are comparable on important sociodemographic characteristics. Age 18-24 adult crime measures reflect criminal court data from Cook County along with official arrest and conviction data from neighboring state and county jurisdictions.

Probit analyses revealed that childhood maltreatment is significantly related to general, violent and severe indicators of adult crime in the CLS, controlling for salient sociodemographic characteristics. Transforming beta coefficients to marginal effects revealed that 52.2% of the maltreated group had been arrested as adults versus 36.8% of the non-maltreated group. Group contrasts on indicators of violent and severe crime also exposed higher rates of offending among maltreated study members: 9.5% versus 3.2% for any violent arrest conviction; and 28.6% versus 9.5% for any felony arrest. Hierarchical regression runs indicated that teacher-rated acting out behavior in sixth grade, grade eight reading achievement, and high school graduation at least partially mediated maltreatment's relationship to these three adult crime measures.

The main effect results support English et al.'s (2002) finding of a significant relationship between childhood maltreatment and adult crime net of relevant covariates. This suggests children don't simply outgrow mistreatment and recommends prevention and early intervention treatment strategies. The mediation findings identify school-related variables as possible catalysts of the maltreatment/crime link, highlighting a potential benefit of elementary school-based interventions for maltreated children. In conclusion, this study contributes to the growing evidence of long-term, enduring consequences of maltreatment and provides insight into its mechanisms of effect.

English, D. J., Widom, C.S., & Brandford, C. (2002). Childhood victimization and delinquency, adult criminality, and violent criminal behavior: A replication and extension (Final Report No.192291). Rockville, MD: National Criminal Justice Reference Service, National Institute of Justice.