Child Abuse, Neglect, and Violent Criminal Behavior in a Midwest Metropolitan Area of the United States, 1967-1988
Description
These data examine the relationships between childhood abuse
and/or neglect and later criminal and violent criminal behavior. In
particular, the data focus on whether being a victim of violence and/or
neglect in early childhood leads to being a criminal offender in
adolescence or early adulthood and whether a relationship exists
between childhood abuse or neglect and arrests as a juvenile, arrests
as an adult, and arrests for violent offenses. For this data
collection, adult and juvenile criminal histories of sampled cases with
backgrounds of abuse or neglect were compared to those of a matched
control group with no official record of abuse or neglect. Variables
contained in Part 1 include demographic information (age, race, sex,
and date of birth). In Part 2, information is presented on the
abuse/neglect incident (type of abuse or neglect, duration of the
incident, whether the child was removed from the home and, if so, for
how long, results of the placement, and whether the individual was
still alive). Part 3 contains family information (with whom the child
was living at the time of the incident, family disruptions, and who
reported the abuse or neglect) and data on the perpetrator of the
incident (relation to the victim, age, race, sex, and whether living in
the home of the victim). Part 4 contains information on the charges
filed within adult arrest incidents (occasion for arrest, multiple
counts of the same type of charge, year and location of arrest, and
type of offense or charge), and Part 5 includes information on the
charges filed within juvenile arrest incidents (year of juvenile
charge, number of arrests, and type of offense or charge). The unit of
analysis for Parts 1 through 3 is the individual at age 11 or younger,
for Part 4 the charge within the adult arrest incident, and for Part 5
the charge within the juvenile arrest incident.