Evidence for Long-Term, Specific Effects of Childhood Abuse and Neglect on Criminal Behavior in Men

Abstract

We reviewed the extensive institutional files of 604 male federal inmates to determine the impact of various types of childhood abuse and neglect on violent and aggressive behavior in adulthood. Men who had been abused as children were three times more likely than nonabused men to engage in violent acts as adults. Moreover, specific forms of childhood abuse were associated with specific (and isomorphic) patterns of adult violence; for example, those who were physically abused were most likely to be physically violent, and those who were sexually abused were most likely to be sexually violent. These results are consistent with the cycle of violence hypothesis, which states that those who experience childhood abuse become more likely to abuse others as adults, probably due to vicarious learning through exposure to violent models.