Escape/Aggression Incidence in Sexually Abused Juvenile Delinquents

Abstract

The psychological impact of sexual abuse on children is not a well-understood phenomenon. It has been suggested, however, that such an experience renders the child more aggressive and antisocial. Juvenile delinquency crime data represent a strong test of that assumption. This study reports a continuation of prior research testing a theoretical model which predicts that juveniles subjected to abuse will not become aggressive but will engage in escape and social avoidance behaviors. Analysis of the juvenile delinquency patterns of sexually abused children later arrested for juvenile crimes supported the hypothesis derived from the theoretical model. Abuse did not lead to aggression significantly more than in a control sample of nonabused juveniles, but did significantly increase the frequency of escape infractions.