Friday, 14 January 2005 - 2:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Foster Care

Child Maltreatment and Juvenile Delinquency: Effects of Social Control in Foster Care

Purpose: Victims of child abuse and neglect are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior as compared with their non maltreated counterparts. The risk of delinquency is further increased for children placed in out-of-home care. The purpose of this study is to identify and determine specific factors that increase the risk of delinquency for children in foster care. We draw heavily from the social control literature and focus particular attention to social bonds, monitoring behaviors (e.g. whereabouts of foster youth known, knowledge of foster youth peer group, establishment of rules), commitment to education and perceptions of permanence. This study makes a significant contribution to the literature because although the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency is well documented there is almost no research that identifies or investigates the specific factors that connect these two phenomena.

Methods: This study combines two rich and unique data sources: longitudinal survey data (two waves of interviews) from the Illinois Subsidized Guardianship Demonstration Waiver and official delinquency petitions from the juvenile court. The sample includes 718 foster care youth. The sample is diverse with regards to age, race, gender, and prior involvement with child protection. The analytic techniques include factor analysis, life tables, event history analysis and logistic regression.

Results: Four percent of the sample has a delinquency petition subsequent to the initial interview (6% for males, 1.4% for females). Regression models indicate that age, gender, race, monitoring behaviors and perceptions of permanence significantly influence the risk of delinquency. Significant race and gender interaction emerge. These interactions reveal that race is a significant predictor, but only for males. The odds of delinquency are 2.6 times greater for African American males. Moreover, the relationship between monitoring behaviors in the foster home (in particular knowledge of the foster youth peer group) and perceptions of permanence vary by gender.

Implications: Reducing the risk of delinquency for maltreated children requires identifying and understanding the factors responsible for this increased risk. Using longitudinal survey data and official delinquency petitions the results of the current study identify specific aspects of social control that help explain juvenile delinquency in foster care. It’s important to note that these aspects are modifiable. Thus, there are a variety of implications for both practice and policy that could reduce the risk of delinquency for maltreated children in out-of-home care.

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