Unit 4 Assignment: Childhood Maltreatment

Unit 4 Assignment | Analysis Essay | Unit 4 Assignment | | Holly Buchanan | 4/19/2013 |

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“Prominent studies of child abuse and maltreatment point to several unfortunate outcomes for victims as they grow up. Adolescents who were victims of sexual assault are three times more likely to suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, be abused again be dependent on drugs and alcohol, or commit delinquent acts compared to adolescents who were not victimized, according to a nationally representative sample.
Being abused or neglected as a child increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 59percent, as an adult by 28percent, and for a violent crime 30 percent according to one study that looked at more than 1,500 cases over time (the researchers matched 900 cases of sustained child abuse with more than 650 cases of children who had not been abused).
The Rochester study followed a sample of 1,000 urban youth over time. Researchers found that childhood maltreatment was a risk factor for officially recognized delinquency, and moderate self-reported delinquency. Overall, child maltreatment appeared to be a risk factor for officially recognized delinquency, violent self-reported delinquency and moderate self-reported delinquency, Overall, child maltreatment appeared to be a risk factor for more serious delinquency, such as a assaults, but not lesser forms of delinquency, such as underage drinking” (National Institute of Justice,