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Child Neglect

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Child neglect, which is the most common form of maltreatment in the United States, has been repeatedly linked to an increased risk of delinquency. Recent studies about the link between abuse and delinquency present a very strong case for a strong connection between childhood abuse and neglect and later delinquent and criminal behavior. It is my belief and own personal experience, from growing up in the poverty-stricken areas of Chicago, that child neglect does lead to an increased risk of delinquency. This paper will analyze multiple past and current studies regarding the topic of Child Neglect and Juvenile Delinquency.
A serious consequence of child maltreatment is an increased risk for crime and violence. In addition to the direct consequences …show more content…
Many lawyers practicing in the criminal courts as well have encountered the same phenomenon. These experiences have led lawyers and researchers to wonder whether the congruence of victimization and offending is evidence of a link between the two or is purely a coincidence (Chen et al., 2014). Victims of child abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of involvement with the juvenile justice and adult correctional systems (Cashmore, 2013). An estimated 683,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2015, the most recent year for which there is national data (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S annually (NCANDS, 2015). Throughout the literature, child and adolescent maltreatment are consistently identified as powerful predictors of juvenile and adult …show more content…
Although there is a stronger link between childhood physical abuse and later violent offending, "the group next most likely to be arrested for a violent offense were those who had experienced neglect in childhood, a finding of particular interest." This conclusion is consistent with other research showing that neglect is highly correlated to an array of subsequent developmental problems among its victims (Smith & Thornberry, 2013). A similar study conducted by Widom (2017) found that children who were the victims of sexual abuse did not have a higher risk for arrest as adults than the victims of other forms of abuse and neglect, except for the offense of

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