Is there a link between child abuse or neglect and subsequent juvenile delinquency?
Research sponsored by the National Institute of Justice found that childhood abuse increased the odds of future delinquency and adult criminality overall by 40 percent. Being abused or neglected as a child increased the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 percent, and for a violent crime by 38 percent. Source: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, “The Cycle of Violence,” 1992.
