Abuse-Resistant Youth: Some Factors That May Inhibit Violent Criminal Behavior

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study by Kruttschnitt et al. was to identify those factors in the lives of victims of abuse that might have protected them from subsequently becoming violent offenders as adults. METHODOLOGY: The authors employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with a non-probability sample of 100 males incarcerated for a violent crime (murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault) in a Minnesota State Correctional Facility, and a control group of 65 male volunteers who had no history of violent crime. The two groups were matched by age, race, and neighborhood of residence during adolescence and childhood. Interview and record data were gathered for each of the respondents, and the final sample consisted of the 106 respondents who had been spanked, whipped, or beaten by their parents. Data were collected about family stability, strength of family attachments, exposure to violence in the home and through the media, feelings of deprivation, schooling and dating experiences, and experiences early in life with agencies such as the criminal justice system, child protection and welfare. The dependent variable for this study was violent criminal behavior, and the independent variables included the presence or absence of a nurturing adult figure, the number of stressful life events experienced (number of family moves, health problems of the respondent, whether the family received welfare, stability of father's job, and number of illegitimate children fathered by the subject during adolescence), number of siblings, the presence of alternative caregivers, the degree of emotional neglect (emotional neglect scale and parents' knowledge of respondent's whereabouts), the identity of the abuser, outcomes of parental conflict, a history of arrest among family members, and the strength of the respondent's support system (siblings, friends in school and team sports). Analysis involved a logit model with regression, estimating the likelihood of success (no violence) for each variable when scores on all other variables were held at their means. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The authors found that six of the variables were significant in the model, with outcome of parental conflict and family criminality being the strongest variables. With the youth having mean scores on all the other variables, over one-half (57%) of those whose parents settled conflicts verbally were likely to be successes (no violent crime committed), whilst only one-third (37%) of those whose parents resorted to violence had no history of violent crime. For the family arrest variables, those youth who had siblings or multiple family members arrested were the least likely to report no violence (22%), and those subjects with no family arrest were being the most likely to be successes (70%). Other variables that played significant roles in the model were the emotional neglect scale, the identity of the abuser, the support system, and the number of team sports. The emotional neglect variable showed that those youth who reported the highest levels of neglect were least likely to be successes - only 21% of these high-neglect youth reported no violence, compared with 55% of the low-neglect group. The combination of abuse and neglect, rather than abuse alone, was thought to lead to antisocial behavior. For those subjects who were abused by their fathers, only 27% reported no violence; 34% who were abused by their mothers reported no violent crime, and 61%, who had no primary rule enforcer, were successes. The consistency of this latter type of disciplinary environment was thought to enhance the likelihood of success. Youth who reported being close to some of their siblings had a 56% chance of success; those who were close to all had a 37% chance, and those close to none, or without siblings, had a 26% chance of violence. The authors suggested that this finding might be due to a differential identification with siblings who had not been arrested over those who had been - 45% of the subjects had a sibling with an arrest record. By identifying only with those who had no record, the chance of violence crime was lowered. Turning to team involvement, the authors found that 81% of those youth involved in up to 8 sports were likely to be successes, compared with only 26% of those involved in no team activities. The authors suggested that team sports might boost self-esteem , or might act as outlets for aggression. The authors concluded that, whilst physical abuse might be a necessary element in the cycle of violence, it is not a sufficient one - when the environment provides few positive experiences to counterbalance the abuse, the victim might end up violent in the future. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors suggested that future research should focus on examining the effects of each of these variables, independently and combined, on different types of violent crimes. EVALUATION: The authors present an interesting discussion of some of the factors that might help protect abused youth from becoming violent criminals in later life. However, the small sample size, and the self-report nature of the data, suggest that the results be interpreted with some caution. A more detailed discussion about selection of respondents would have been helpful, as would have a more thorough explanation of the measurement of variables. At times, the findings were presented in a somewhat confusing fashion, and few implications of the results were offered. Despite these limitations, the study should be seen as an informative addition to the study of the cycle of violence. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Minnesota KW - Domestic Violence Effects KW - Domestic Violence Victim KW - Child Abuse-Violence Link KW - Child Abuse Effects KW - Child Abuse Victim KW - Child Physical Abuse Effects KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim KW - Child Male KW - Child Victim KW - Male Victim KW - Childhood Experience KW - Childhood Victimization KW - Long-Term Effects KW - Home Environment KW - Male Violence KW - Male Offender KW - Violence Causes KW - Family History KW - Psychological Victimization Effects KW - Adult Male KW - Adult Offender KW - Adult Violence Language: en