NCJ Number
83343
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This unstaged, unrehearsed documentary about child abuse reveals causes of child abuse, sources of violence, and the relationship between childhood abuse and later criminality.
Abstract
A study of inmates of the California Institution for Men revealed that nearly all prisoners had been victims of child abuse, and at San Quentin, all inmates were victims of extreme child abuse. This does not mean, however, that all child abuse victims later become criminals. Several adult and juvenile offenders are interviewed about their treatment as children. All of them relate experiences that indicate they were victims of pervasive child abuse. One mother describes how she 'teaches' her little boy to behave properly: each time he misbehaves, she hits him with a ruler. Now her son is displaying violence towards other children but she does not relate his actions to her own. Sgt. Bill Dunne, of the San Diego Police Department (California), is in charge of a child abuse prevention project with the motto 'Stop child abuse today, prevent crime tomorrow.' This project involves professionals from law enforcement, child welfare, education, and the courts in intervention/prevention to rescue very young children from child abuse and neglect before they are too psychologically scarred to be saved. Preventive steps recommended to avoid future child abuse include education (teaching adolescents about parenting with hands-on training at a day care center), employer-sponsored day care for working parents, and counseling and intervention for families in need of help.