U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

National Institute of Justice

Julie E. Samuels, Acting Director

continued...

An Update on the “Cycle of Violence”

By Cathy S. Widom and Michael G. Maxfield

February 2001

through 1971 and tracked through

official criminal records over approximately 25 years.

● A comparison group of 667 children,

not officially recorded as abused or neglected, matched to the study group according to sex, age, race, and approximate

family socioeconomic status.

Although many individuals in both groups

had no juvenile or adult criminal record,

being abused or neglected as a child increased the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile

by 59 percent, as an adult by 28 percent, and

for a violent crime by 30 percent.

The “cycle of violence” hypothesis suggests that a childhood history of physical

abuse predisposes the survivor to violence in later years. This study reveals

that victims of neglect are also likely to

develop later violent criminal behavior. If

violence is begotten by not only violence,

but also by neglect, far more attention

needs to be devoted to the families of

children who are abandoned and severely

malnourished.

This study relied on arrest records to

measure delinquency and criminality,

initially checked in 1988.1

 Updated arrest records were collected in 1994, and

results from this update are presented in

this Research in Brief.

Do childhood abuse and neglect lead to

adult criminal behavior? How likely is it

that today’s abused and neglected children will become tomorrow’s violent

offenders? Did the picture change when

these individuals’ records were updated

after 6 years?

In one of the most detailed studies of the

issue to date, research sponsored by the

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found

that childhood abuse and neglect increased the odds of future delinquency

and adult criminality overall by 29 percent. When data were initially checked

in 1988, the average age of subjects was

26 years. About 65 percent of the sample

had passed through the peak years of

committing violent offenses (ages 20 to

25 years). This update reports new arrest

data collected in 1994, when subjects

averaged 32.5 years of age and only

1 percent of the sample had not passed

through the peak offending years. The

examination of updated data on the same

subjects 6 years later reveals findings

that are similar in some respects, but quite

different in others.

The study followed 1,575 cases from

childhood through young adulthood, comparing the arrest records of two groups:

● A study group of 908 substantiated

cases of childhood abuse or neglect

processed by the courts from 1967

Issues and Findings

Discussed in this Brief: Updated

results of a longitudinal study that

compared the arrest records of

abused and/or neglected children

with arrest records for children who

were not abused or maltreated.

Subjects included 908 substantiated

cases of childhood abuse or neglect

processed by the courts from 1967

through 1971 who were matched

by sex, age, race, and approximate

family socioeconomic status with a

comparison group of 667 children

not officially recorded as abused or

neglected.

Initial results were gathered in 1988,

when the average age of subjects

was 26 years. Those findings

showed that childhood abuse and

neglect increased the odds of future

delinquency and adult criminality

overall by 29 percent. The updated

results discussed in this Brief are

based on additional arrest data

gathered in 1994.

Key issues: Childhood victimization

represents a widespread, serious social problem. General delinquency

research shows that childhood

abuse (physical and sexual) is often

associated with delinquency and

that the early onset of maltreatment

may increase the variety, seriousness, and duration of problems. It is

also widely suggested that violence

begets violence—that today’s

abused children become tomorrow’s

violent offenders.

Further, children who suffer from

neglect—not physical abuse—are

Additional support for this study was provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism and the National Institute of Mental Health.
2

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

design allowed the study to separate

known correlates of delinquency and

criminality (age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status) from the experience of child

abuse and neglect. Both groups were

approximately two-thirds white and onethird black and were about evenly divided between males and females. Most

were between the ages of 6 and 11 years

old at the time the abuse was documented

or matches were made (see exhibit 1).

The study design also featured clear operational definitions of abuse and neglect.

Combined with large sample sizes, this

permitted the separate examination of

physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect,

defined as follows:

● Physical abuse cases included injuries such as bruises, welts, burns,

abrasions, lacerations, wounds, cuts,

bone and skull fractures, and other

evidence of physical injury.

● Sexual abuse charges varied from

relatively nonspecific charges of

“assault and battery with intent to

Study design

Several important design features distinguish this research from prior efforts to

study the intergenerational transmission

of violence.2 First, by following a large

number (1,575) of cases from childhood

through adolescence and into young

adulthood, this prospective study was

able to examine the long-term consequences of abuse and neglect. The sample, drawn from a metropolitan area

in the Midwest, was restricted to children

who were 11 years of age or younger at

the time of the abuse or neglect.

Arrest records were originally examined

in 1988. When juvenile and adult criminal records were reexamined in 1994, the

age of the subjects ranged from 18 to 40

years old. Fewer than 1 percent were

younger than 25 years of age, and the

mean age of the group was 32.5 years.

Matching members of the study group to

others whose official records showed no

childhood abuse or neglect was an equally

important feature of the research. This

also at risk. In one study of the

influence of early malnutrition on

subsequent behavior, previously

malnourished children had attention deficits, reduced social skills,

and poorer emotional stability than

a comparison group.

Key findings:

● Being abused or neglected as a

child increased the likelihood of

arrest as a juvenile by 59 percent,

as an adult by 28 percent, and for

a violent crime by 30 percent.

● Maltreated children were

younger at the time of their first

arrest, committed nearly twice as

many offenses, and were arrested

more frequently.

● Physically abused and neglected

(versus sexually abused) children

were the most likely to be arrested

later for a violent crime.

● In contrast to earlier research

findings, the new results indicate

that abused and neglected females

were also at increased risk of arrest

for violence as juveniles and adults.

● White abused and neglected

children were no more likely to be

arrested for a violent crime than

their nonabused and nonneglected

white counterparts. In contrast,

black abused and neglected children in this sample showed significantly increased rates of violent

arrests compared with black children who were not maltreated.

● An out-of-home placement

was not related to the number

of arrests among those who were

removed from their homes due

only to abuse and neglect.

Target audience: Juvenile authorities, child welfare professionals, police, teachers, and health

care workers.

Issues and Findings

...continued

Exhibit 1. Demographic characteristics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Male Female White Black 0–3 yrs. 4–5 yrs. 6–11 yrs.

Abused/neglected group Comparison group

Percent
3

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

Exhibit 2. Extent of involvement in delinquency, adult criminality, and

violent criminal behavior, in percent

and Social Services records) in another

geographic area (Mecklenburg County,

North Carolina). Zingraff and colleagues6

 found that maltreated children

had higher rates of delinquency and

violence complaints than nonmaltreated

school and impoverished children.

Thus, in three quite different prospective studies covering different parts of

the country and using cases from different time periods, childhood abuse

and neglect have been found to increase

risk of crime and delinquency. This is

important because similar findings

based on such different sampling procedures increase the validity of generalizing the results. Presently, NIJ is

funding a fourth study to examine the

relationship between child abuse and

neglect and subsequent criminal outcomes in the Nation’s Northwest region.

Sex. The experience of early childhood abuse or neglect had a substantial impact on individuals with little

likelihood of engaging in officially recorded adult criminal behavior. Males

generally have higher rates of criminal

behavior than females, but females

abused or neglected in childhood were

73 percent more likely than control

group females to be arrested for property, alcohol, drug, and such misdemeanor offenses as disorderly conduct,

curfew violations, or loitering. In

contrast to earlier findings, these

gratify sexual desires” to more specific ones, such as “fondling or

touching in an obscene manner,”

sodomy, rape, and incest.

● Neglect cases reflected a judgment

that the parents’ deficiencies in

child care were beyond those found

acceptable by community and professional standards at the time.

These cases represented extreme

failure to provide adequate food,

clothing, shelter, and medical attention to children.

Juvenile court and probation records

were the source of information on

abuse or neglect and family characteristics. Arrest data were obtained from

Federal, State, and local law enforcement records. Recognizing that much

child abuse (as well as later delinquent and criminal behavior) never

comes to the attention of any official

authority, a second phase of this research was undertaken to supplement

official records with interview results.

A comparison of official records and

self-report information for these subjects is described in a recent article.3

Study findings

Of primary interest was the question,

“Would arrest histories of those who

had been abused or neglected be

worse than those with no reported

abuse?” The answer, shown in exhibit

2, was evident: Those who had been

abused or neglected as children were

more likely to be arrested as juveniles

(27 percent versus 17 percent), adults

(42 percent versus 33 percent), and for

a violent crime (18 percent versus 14

percent).

The abused and neglected cases were

younger at first arrest (mean = 16.5

years versus 17.3 years), committed

nearly twice as many offenses (mean =

2.4 versus 1.4), and were arrested

more frequently (17 percent of abused

and neglected cases versus 9 percent

of comparison cases had more than

five arrests). This information is important because of the finding in the

general delinquency literature that

shows early onset is associated with

increased variety, seriousness, and

duration of problems.4

Our research was conducted in a metropolitan county area in the Midwest,

using cases of abuse and neglect that

came to the attention of the courts

during the years 1967 through 1971.

Other researchers report similar findings. As part of the Rochester Youth

Development Study, Thornberry and

his colleagues collected information

from the Department of Social Services

in Rochester, New York, about abused

and neglected children in their longitudinal study. Using self-reports and

official arrest information, Smith and

Thornberry5

 found that child maltreatment was a significant risk factor for

delinquency and self-reported violent

behavior, even when gender, race or

ethnicity, family structure, and social

class were controlled.

Another study examined maltreated

children and two nonmaltreated comparison samples (one from the schools

and one from the Department of Health

Note: All differences are significant.

Abused and Neglected Group Comparison Group

Type of Arrest (n = 908) (n = 667)

Juvenile 27.4 17.2

Adult 41.6 32.5

Violent Crime 18.1 13.9
4

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

Exhibit 3. Involvement in criminality by gender, in percent

new results indicate that abused and

neglected females were also at increased risk of arrest for violence as

juveniles and adults (see exhibit 3).

Because these findings are based on

official criminal records, it is possible

that differences represent spurious

findings. It is particularly tempting to

dismiss the findings about females

because the base rates are so low.

However, these findings have been

subjected to more stringent multivariate analyses with the same results. Because few studies have looked at these

relationships, it is hard to explain the

findings in any conclusive way.

Interestingly, the pattern of increased

risk differed for males and females.

Compared with controls, abused and

neglected females were at increased

risk of arrest for a violent crime as a

juvenile or adult, despite the fact that

females are less likely to be arrested

for violence. This pattern was not evident for males. Compared with control

males, abused and neglected males

were not at increased risk for violent

offending as juveniles or adults.

The apparent lack of increased risk

for violent offending by abused and

neglected males was surprising. One

possible explanation is that having an

arrest for violence is not such an unusual occurrence among a sample like

this. For this reason, we reexamined

these data using a different dependent

variable: the number of arrests for violence. Abused and neglected males

were found to have a significantly

larger number of arrests for violence

than control males. Thus, a gender

difference exists in the effect of childhood victimization on risk for arrest 

Type of Arrest Abused and Neglected Group Comparison Group

Any Arrest

Male 62.1 54.8*

Female 37.6 21.9***

Property

Male 43.2 29.3***

Female 17.8 11.1***

Order

Male 35.9 29.0*

Female 16.3 7.2***

Violent

Male 28.4 24.2

Female 8.2 3.6**

Alcohol

Male 27.1 26.0

Female 9.9 6.0*

Drugs

Male 22.8 17.1*

Female 6.9 2.1**

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note: Number of males = 777 and females = 798.

for violence. For females, there is an

increased risk for participation. For

males, there is an increased risk in the

frequency of participation (the number

of violent arrests). Childhood victimization increases arrests for violence

among females and males, but in different ways.

Race. Both black and white abused

and neglected children were more

likely to be arrested than comparison

children. However, as shown in exhibit

4, the difference among whites was not

as great as that among blacks. In fact,

white abused and neglected children

were no more likely to be arrested for

a violent crime than their nonabused

and nonneglected counterparts. This

contrasts sharply with findings for

black children in this sample, who

showed significantly increased rates of

violent crime arrests than black children who were not abused or neglected.

This is a surprising finding. We can

only speculate that these results may

reflect differences in a number of environmental factors, including poverty

levels, family characteristics, the nature of the abuse or neglect incident,

access to counseling or support services, treatment by juvenile authorities, or exposure to levels of violence

in the community. Understanding what

appears to be a differential effect of

childhood victimization by race is an

important challenge for future research.

Juvenile record. Abused and neglected individuals were at higher risk

of arrest, at a younger age, with more

significant and repeated criminal involvement. Notably, however, among

those arrested as juveniles, abused or

neglected persons were no more likely

to continue being arrested than control

subjects.
5

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

Exhibit 4. Involvement in criminality by race, in percent

Abused and Neglected Group Comparison Group

Type of Arrest (n = 900) (n = 667)

Juvenile

Black 40.6 20.9***

White 21.8 15.2**

Adult

Black 59.8 43.6***

White 33.8 26.6*

Violent Crime

Black 34.2 21.8**

White 11.0 9.7

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

● In both groups, roughly the same

proportion of abused and neglected

children and controls with juvenile

arrests had arrests as adults (71

percent versus 66 percent).

● Similarly, in both groups, about the

same proportion of those with violent

juvenile arrests also had violent

arrests as adults (63 percent versus

61 percent).

In short, childhood abuse and neglect

had no apparent effect on the continuation of juvenile offending into adulthood. Distinguishing the factors that

promote the onset of criminal behavior

from those that affect persistence in a

criminal career is recommended as an

important topic for future research.

Does only violence beget

violence?

To test the notion that childhood victims of violence resort to violence themselves in later years, violent criminal

behavior was examined as a function of

the type of maltreatment experienced as

a child. The results are presented in

simplified form in exhibit 5.

Exhibit 5 shows that physically abused

(as opposed to neglected or sexually

abused) children were the most likely

to be arrested later for a violent crime.

The neglected group, however, was

only slightly less likely to be arrested

for a violent crime. Victims of sexual

abuse were least likely to have an

arrest for violence, although this is

somewhat misleading because victims

of sexual abuse were overwhelmingly

female (84 percent), and females less

often had a record of violent offenses.

Different types of abuse and neglect

are not distributed evenly by age, sex,

and race. However, even after controlling for age, sex, and race, the relationship between childhood neglect

and subsequent violence remained

evident.

Nationwide, the incidence of neglect 

is almost two and a half times that of

physical abuse (15.9 per 1,000 children in 1986, compared with 5.7 per

1,000 for physical abuse, and 2.5 per

1,000 for sexual abuse).7

 Neglect also

is potentially more damaging to the

development of a child than physical

abuse (provided the abuse involves no

neurological impairment). In one study

of the influence of early malnutrition

on subsequent behavior, previously

malnourished children had attention

deficits, reduced social skills, and

poorer emotional stability than a comparison group.8

 Other researchers have

found an array of developmental differences associated with childhood

neglect.9 Coupled with the present

study’s findings of a greater risk of

later criminal violence among neglected children, these behavioral and

developmental differences suggest a

need for concerted preventive action.

Furthermore, these research findings

show the importance of improved procedures for the identification of child

abuse and neglect. Referring to the

connection between child maltreatment and adult criminality, New York

City instituted procedures for police

response and followup in cases involving suspected child abuse and neglect.10 In jurisdictions that have

adopted community policing, officers

may be better able to detect early

Exhibit 5. Does only violence beget violence?

Percentage Arrested

Abuse Group Number of subjects for Violent Offense

Physical Abuse Only 76 21.1

Neglect Only 609 20.2

Sexual Abuse Only 125 8.8

Mixed 98 14.3

Control 667 13.9
6

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

signs of child maltreatment by fostering closer ties to community residents.

By making referrals to appropriate

social service agencies, police also

may be able to prevent more serious

problem outcomes down the road.

Out-of-home placement and

criminal consequences

Not all abused and neglected children

grow up to become delinquents, adult

criminals, or violent criminal offenders. What are some of the possible

mediating variables that act to buffer

or protect abused and neglected children? Placement outside the home was

investigated as one possible buffer.

Scholars and practitioners have criticized out-of-home placements (foster

care, in particular). Children placed

outside the home are considered a

particularly vulnerable group, because

they have experienced both a disturbed family situation and separation

from their natural parents. Accordingly, child welfare policies today often seek to avoid removing the child

from home and instead try to mitigate

negative family situations through

counseling and related support, such as

intensive family preservation services.

In contrast to today’s practices, the vast

majority of these children who were

abused and neglected roughly 30 years

ago were placed outside the home during some portion of their childhood or

early adolescence. Annual information

on placement was available from juvenile court and probation records of 772

children. For these, out-of-home placements included foster care, guardians’

homes, and schools for the retarded or

physically handicapped. Only 14 percent of these abuse and neglect cases

had no record of having been placed

out of the home through age 18. The

average amount of time in placement

was about 5 years and sometimes lasted

through childhood and adolescence.

As exhibit 6 shows, there was remarkably little difference between the arrest records of those who remained at

home and those who were placed outside the home due to abuse and neglect. Predictably, both groups were

strikingly different from those placed

outside the home due to both delinquency and abuse or neglect. At least

for this sample, then, an out-of-home

placement did not negatively affect the

arrest measure for those who were removed from their homes due only to

abuse or neglect.

Additional analysis showed that stability may be an important factor in outof-home placements. Children who

were moved three or more times had

significantly higher arrest rates (almost

twice as high) for all types of criminal

behaviors—juvenile, adult, and violent—than children who were moved

fewer than three times. In turn, children with multiple placements typically had records of behavior problems

in their files. These notations covered

a wide spectrum of problem behaviors,

including chronic fighting, fire setting,

destructiveness, uncontrollable anger,

sadistic tendencies, and extreme defiance of authority. Whether the behavior problems caused the move or the

moves contributed to the behavior

problems is unclear. In either case,

children with numerous placements

are likely to need special services.

These findings challenge the assumption that it is necessarily unwise to

remove children from negative family

situations. Although stability of placement appears to be important, the potential damage of removing an abused

and neglected child from the home did

not include a higher likelihood of

arrest or violent criminal behavior.

Additional research in

progress

A second phase of this research—with

support from NIJ, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute on

Drug Abuse—was designed to address

many of the unanswered questions

from the first phase by finding and interviewing a large number of subjects

20 to 25 years after the childhood vic-

***p < .001.

Exhibit 6. Juvenile and adult arrests as a function of placement experiences for

juvenile court cases only (N = 772)

 Arrest (%)

Both Juvenile

Type of Juvenile Adult and Adult Violent

Placement N (n = 215) (n = 317) (n = 155) (n = 148)

No Placement 106 16.0 44.3 10.4 15.1

Abuse/Neglect

Placement Only 489 18.6 37.0 12.5 14.1

Delinquency

Placement Plus

Abuse/Neglect 96 92.7 78.1 71.9 53.1

Significance *** *** *** ***
7

R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

timization. Inperson followup interviews inquired about recollections of

early childhood experiences, schooling, and adolescence; possible undetected alcohol and drug problems;

possible undetected delinquency and

criminality; and important life experiences. The followup was designed to

examine a much fuller range of consequences of childhood victimization

experiences and to determine why

some victims of childhood abuse and

neglect fare well, while others have

more negative consequences.

Findings based on 2-hour followup

interviews with 1,196 abused and neglected and comparison group subjects

indicate that other negative outcomes

may be common as well:

● Mental health concerns (suicide

attempts and posttraumatic stress

disorder11).

● Educational problems (extremely

low IQ scores and reading ability).12

● Occupational difficulties (lack of work,

high rates of unemployment, and employment in low-level service jobs).

● Public health and safety issues

(prostitution in males and females13

and alcohol problems in females).14

In addition to documenting the broader

consequences of childhood victimization, a goal of these followup interviews

was to identify protective factors that

may buffer the negative results of abuse

and neglect. The ultimate goal was to

provide a knowledge base on which to

build appropriate prevention and treatment programs.

Conclusions and implications

Childhood victimization represents a

widespread, serious social problem.

Earlier reports demonstrated that child

abuse and neglect increased the likelihood of delinquency, adult criminality,

and violent criminal behavior. These

updated results document the persistence of the relationship in demonstrable long-term consequences for

criminal behavior. Poor educational

performance, mental health problems,

and generally low levels of achievement

also characterize victims of early childhood abuse and neglect studied here.

Earlier writings based on this research

emphasized that the majority of abused

and neglected children in the sample

did not become offenders. That earlier

conclusion must be modified. At

present, almost half of the abused and

neglected individuals overall (49 percent) have had an arrest for a nontraffic

offense (juvenile or adult). For some

subgroups (blacks and abused and neglected males), almost two-thirds have

been arrested as juveniles or adults.

Childhood victimization increased the

risk of being arrested and being arrested for a violent crime. But it may

best be viewed as one among a constellation of risk factors.

These results suggest at least three

messages to juvenile authorities and

child welfare professionals:

● Intervene early. These updated findings reinforce the need for police,

teachers, and health care workers to

recognize the signs of abuse and

neglect and make serious efforts to

intervene as early as possible. The

later the intervention, the more difficult the change process becomes. It

is suggested that special attention be

paid to abused and neglected children with early behavior problems.

These children show the highest risk

of later juvenile and adult arrest, as

well as violent criminal behavior.

● Recognize the high risks of neglect,

as well as of child physical abuse.

Also important in its implications

for juvenile court and child welfare

action is the fact that neglect alone

(not exclusively physical abuse) was

significantly related to violent criminal behavior. A picture emerges

where physical abuse may be only

one point on a continuum of family

situations that contribute to violence. Whether those situations result in active physical abuse or more

passive neglect, it is now quite clear

that both forms of child maltreatment

seriously threaten the healthy development of children. Neglect cases

represent the majority of cases taxing the child protection system. This

research shows that today’s victims

of neglect may well be tomorrow’s

violent offenders.

● Examine out-of-home placement

policies. This NIJ study focused

on cases during the period 1967

through 1971, when out-of-home

placements were a common intervention. Detailed information available for 772 cases revealed that a

large majority (86 percent) were

placed outside their homes for an

average of 5 years. This contrasts

sharply with today’s efforts in many

places to avoid out-of-home placement on the assumption that separation may aggravate, rather than

ameliorate, a child’s problems. Yet,

we found no evidence that those

who were separated from their families fared any worse on arrest measures than those who remained at

home. Though these results are far

from definitive, they suggest that

child protective policies in this

area deserve close scrutiny. The

assumption that removal from the

home offers additional risk could

not be confirmed by this study. Any

policy founded on this assumption

should be tested through careful

local studies of the full consequences of out-of-home placement.
R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f

Notes

1. C.S. Widom, The Cycle of Violence, Research

in Brief, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of

Justice, National Institute of Justice, October

1992, NCJ 136607.

2. For further information on the design and

sampling procedures, see C.S. Widom, “Child

Abuse, Neglect, and Adult Behavior: Research

Design and Findings on Criminality, Violence,

and Child Abuse,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 59 (1989): 355–367; M.G. Maxfield

and C.S. Widom, “The Cycle of Violence: Revisited Six Years Later,” Archives of Pediatrics

and Adolescent Medicine 150 (1996): 390–395.

3. M.G. Maxfield, B.L. Weiler, and C.S.

Widom, “Comparing Self-Reports and Official

Records of Arrests,” Journal of Quantitative

Criminology 16 (2000): 87–110.

4. R. Loeber and M. Stouthamer-Loeber,

“Prediction,” in Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency, ed. H.C. Quay, New York: Wiley &

Sons, 1987.

5. C. Smith and T.P. Thornberry, “The Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and

Adolescent Involvement in Delinquency,”

Criminology 33 (1995): 451–481.

6. M.T. Zingraff, J. Leiter, K.A. Myers, and

M.C. Johnsen, “Child Maltreatment and

Youthful Problem Behavior,” Criminology

31 (1993): 173–202.

7. Westat, Inc., Study Findings: Study of National Incidence and Prevalence of Child Abuse

and Neglect: 1988, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1988.

8. J.R. Galler, F. Ramsey, G. Solimano, and

W.E. Lowell, “The Influence of Early Malnutrition on Subsequent Behavioral Development. II.

Classroom Behavior,” Journal of the American

Academy of Child Psychiatry 24 (1983): 16–22.

9. See, for instance, R.E. Allen and J.M. Oliver,

“The Effects of Child Maltreatment on Language

Development,” Child Abuse and Neglect 6 (1982):

299–305; B. Egeland, A. Sroufe, and M. Erickson,

“The Developmental Consequences of Different

Patterns of Maltreatment,” Child Abuse and Neglect 7 (1983): 459–469; A. Frodi and J. Smetana,

“Abused, Neglected, and Nonmaltreated Preschoolers’ Ability to Discriminate Emotions in

Others: The Effects of IQ,” Child Abuse and

Neglect 8 (1984): 459–465.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/NIJ

PERMIT NO. G–91

Cathy Spatz Widom is Professor of

Psychiatry and University Professor

in the Department of Psychiatry at

the New Jersey Medical School

(UMDNJ). She is widely recognized

for her work on the cycle of violence.

Michael G. Maxfield is a professor

of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University. He is the coauthor of Research Methods for Criminal Justice

and Criminology.

The research for this study was supported by grants from the National

Institute of Justice (86–IJ–CX–

0033, 89–IJ–CX–0007, and 93–

IJ–CX–0031–S1) as well as the

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse

and Alcoholism (AA09238) and the

National Institute of Mental Health

(MH49467). NCJ 184894

The National Institute of Justice is a

component of the Office of Justice

Programs, which also includes the Bureau

of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice

Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for

Victims of Crime.

This and other NIJ publications can be

found at and downloaded from the NIJ

Web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij).

Findings and conclusions of the research

reported here are those of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the official position or

policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

10. B. Ward, Commissioner, New York City Police

Department, press release no. 17, May 22, 1989.

11. C.S. Widom, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Abused and Neglected Children Followed-Up,” American Journal of Psychiatry

156 (1999): 1223–1229.

12. C.M. Perez and C.S. Widom, “Childhood

Victimization and Long-Term Intellectual and

Academic Outcomes,” Child Abuse and Neglect

18 (1994): 617–633.

13. C.S. Widom and J. Kuhns, “Childhood

Victimization and Subsequent Risk for Promiscuity, Prostitution, and Teenage Pregnancy,”

American Journal of Public Health 86 (11)

(November 1996): 1607–1612.

14. C.S. Widom, T. Ireland, and P.J. Glynn,

“Alcohol Abuse in Abused and Neglected

Children Followed-Up: Are They at Increased

Risk?” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 56 (1995):

207–217.