NCJ Number
219699
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 220-232
Date Published
August 2007
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study interviewed 160 youth (8-15 years old) with confirmed child sexual abuse (CSA) histories both at the time of disclosure of the CSA and 1 to 6 years later, in order to identify potential pathways from stigmatization and emotional disorders to delinquency.
Abstract
Study findings support the hypothesized relationship between stigmatization and emotional disorders at abuse discovery and subsequent anger and delinquent behaviors. In addition, consistent with expectations, the association of anger and delinquency with CSA was mediated through affiliation with deviant peers. Although stigmatization and emotional disorders were indirectly related to delinquency, abuse severity was not related to delinquency. This is the first study to provide longitudinal evidence for early predictors of the anger-delinquency association in CSA youth. The anger measured in this study reflected hostility and the desire to strike out at others. It is this kind of explosive anger that has been hypothesized to be activated in the shame-rage spiral. The study findings support the concept that the intensely negative, self-directed thoughts and feelings involved in stigmatization can be turned outward, possibly in a self-defensive process that leads to anger and antisocial behavior directed at others. Effective interventions will likely require a creative combination of evidence-based programs from both the CSA and the delinquency fields. Study participants (n=160), who were recruited from urban and suburban populations in New Jersey, were confirmed cases of CSA within the past 8 weeks. The study measured abuse characteristics; stigmatization processes; posttraumatic stress symptoms of avoidance, hyperarousal, and intrusive recollections; anger; and delinquency outcomes. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 85 references