NCJ Number
98883
Date Published
1985
Length
22 pages
Annotation
A study of a student sample and a large nationally representative sample showed that children, particularly boys, who were hit by their parents tended to have higher rates of vandalism and violence outside the home.
Abstract
Data came from 385 questionnaires completed by university students from two-parent households and from personal interviews with a national probability sample of 2,143 two-parent families. Data on violence came from two versions of the Conflict Tactics Scale. Violence between the husbands and wives were correlated with nonfamily violence and delinquency by teenage boys, but not by girls. Parents who severely and repeatedly assulted their children did not have a higher rate of arrest or conviction than other parents. Couples who engaged in violent acts against each other had higher rates of criminal involvement than nonviolent couples. Findings from the two samples were generally consistent with one another. Internal comparisons suggested that the causal direction is from intrafamily violence to nonfamily violence and crime rather than the reverse. The finding that family violence appeared to be criminogenic did not necessarily explain the social and psychological processes producing this effect. The linking process may be partly the role model provided by violent parents and partly the experience of being a victim. Victimization may be criminogenic because it undermines the faith in the fairness of the world that promotes conforming behavior. Factors other than role modeling and victimization are probably also important. Five figures, 2 footnotes, and 15 references are included.