Gender Differences in the Risk for Delinquency Among Youth Exposed to Family Violence

• NCJ Number: 205556
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 25 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 1037-1051
• Author(s): Veronica M. Herrera; Laura A. McCloskey
• Date Published: August 2001
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): RO1-MH51428
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. These findings were presented at the Annual American Society of Criminology meetings, November 1997 in San Diego, CA.

Annotation

This study examined whether there are gender differences in delinquency among juveniles exposed to both marital violence and physical abuse as children.

Abstract

Analyses were performed to identify the unique effects on violent and nonviolent delinquency of boys and girls exposed to either form of family violence. The study was conducted in a midsized city in the Southwestern United States. Since the project was designed to examine the impact of marital violence on children, battered women were oversampled in the study; they were recruited from both shelters and the community at large. A total of 299 youth were selected for the study, excluding families from shelters because they had different demographic profiles and more mobility than battered women in the community. A total of 102 women were recruited for the study. A comparison group was recruited through another poster campaign, yielding a sample of 197. The initial interview was conducted in 1990-91. Mothers and children participated in separate 2-hour interviews. Approximately 5 years later, a search of juvenile court records was conducted for the children, and details on the nature of the offenses were obtained. Outcome variables measured whether there was ever an arrest and whether there was ever an arrest for a violent crime. Preliminary analyses showed no gender differences in overall juvenile court referral rates; however, boys were more likely than girls to be referred for property, felony, and violent offenses. Exposure to marital violence in childhood predicted referral to juvenile court. Girls with a history of physical abuse as a child were arrested for violent offenses more often than boys with similar histories. The type of violent offenses, however, differed by gender, in that nearly all referrals for a violent offense by girls were for domestic violence. Still, the findings suggest that compared to boys, girls must be subjected to more severe physical violence before they manifest violent delinquent behaviors. 4 tables and 35 references