This essay is going to explore the notion that child abuse and maltreatment can lead to an
increased chance of committing criminal behaviour in adulthood. The focus here will be on how child
abuse in early stages of development will impact the likelihood of criminal behaviour later in life.
There is a wide range of studies dedicated to finding a relationship between these two variables.
This essay will also look into the different psychological effects caused by maltreatment and explore
the casual relationship between each one and the likelihood of delinquency and criminal behaviour.
For example, Weiler and Widom (1996) conducted a quasi experiment in which they explored the
relationship between psychopathy and violent behaviour and a history of abuse. The study did show
results of victims of child abuse scoring higher on the Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R), which
seemed to be a good predictor if violent behaviour. However, there are various weaknesses to this
study that allow us to question it’s validity. The varying sample sizes between the experimental
group (652) and the control group (489) make it difficult to establish a clear relationship between
the two variables. Although, the difference may be due to possible withdrawal during the
experiment as it is suggested that the researchers attempted to use a matched pairs design for their
study. Also, the self-reports used to evaluate psychopathy and violent behaviour may have been
affected by socially desirable answers along with ambiguous or leading questions throughout the
report or checklist. This could be especially relevant to the subject of this study as neglect and abuse
can create cognitive distortions in an individual (Briere & Runtz, 1993).
It is possible that these distortions may be due to the interruption of Kohlberg’s levels of moral
development that is caused by the abuse or neglect throughout childhood. This would mean that the
individual does not travel through the stages in an expected time frame, causing the cognitive
distortions such as believing that their maltreatment is a punishment for behaviours they feel are
wrong – as spoken of in Briere and Runtz’ research (1993). This may also lead to compromising the
results of Weiler and Widom’s (1996) study as participants may have answered viewing certain
normal behaviours as violent or negative.
Finding similar results, Smith and Thornberry (1995) analysed official and self-report data from the
Rochester Youth Development Study (1986) in order to explore the relationship between early
maltreatment through childhood and delinquency later in life. They found this relationship to be
very significant, even when other factors were controlled. However, this has similar validity issues as
Weiler and Widom’s study (1996) as it uses self reports to collect data. This could potentially suggest
that the relationship between the two variables is not as significant as it may appear through the
findings of the study. Along with Kohlberg’s levels of moral development, another explanation
throughout psychology that may explain the suggested relationship between child maltreatment and
delinquency may be linked to the Freudian pscyho-sexual stages that a child experiences from birth.
Maltreatment may mean an interruption in the Oedipus or Electra stage, causing the child to have
abnormal behaviour or possible sexual frustration in later life.
This may be a possible explanation for those who commit sexual crimes throughout adulthood. It
could possibly be linked to Demaré and Lips’ study (1988). Using 200 undergraduate male students
as participants to explore the relationship between pornographers use and likelihood of sexual
violence and rape. This was measured once again by using self reports to collect data on the
likeliness of rape. 41 and 35% of participants reported viewing sexually violent pornography and 27%
of participants reported a likelihood of committing a sexual offence against a woman. More research
would be needed to explore the relationship between sexual abuse and later offences in adulthood
as the possible disruption of the psycho-sexual stages could be an explanation for this behaviour
being normalised in the individual’s mind. However, this study is gender biased as it only uses males
and does not consider the possibility of women committing sexual offences.
The issue of gender biased studies is also relevant in the first studies discussed in this essay as,
when studying child maltreatment, most studies use a majority of female participants for their
research. This issue may originate from the time at which the studies were conducted due to
stereotypical gender views. However, studies that are being conducted in more recent years have
explored the gender gap and how the maltreatment through childhood affects males and females on
different levels. Garnefski and Arends (1998) showed an early exploration of the differences
between genders. Their study used a matched pairs design in order to attempt control over
participant variables. The results of this study displayed a more significant effect for males were had
been sexually abused than females in the areas of alcoholism and aggressive or criminal behaviour.
The link to criminal behaviour may be related to the increase of depressive symptoms in sexually
abused males. For example, 2.6% of non-abused males had recorded a previous suicide attempt in
comparison to 26.5% of sexually abused males. There could be a casual relationship between the
increase in depressive symptoms and criminal behaviour due to self-destructive behaviours seen in
individuals who suffer from mental health issues such as depression.
There is also speculation of whether maltreatment has more of an effect during childhood or
adolescence. Thornberry et al (2010) conducted research on 907 participants, exploring the
difference in those were experienced maltreatment during childhood and those who experienced
similar during their adolescent years. They conducted a longitudinal study, following participants
from the age of 14 until the age of 31, carrying through fourteen assessments over those years. The
results they gathered showed a significant relationship between maltreatment during childhood and
drug use and depressive symptoms. However, maltreatment during adolescence seemed to show a
wider ranges of relationships to other problems, centring around violent and aggressive behaviour. A
biological view of this may suggest that the relationship differences may be due to the hormone
changes an individual experiences throughout adolescence.
To conclude, if these patterns seem to appear more often throughout various pieces of research,
it is possible that the knowledge of the casual relationship between maltreatment and criminal
behaviour could allow psychologists to predict behaviours and prevent criminal behaviour. This
would allow for an improvement in society by making it safer and easier to protect from violent