how it plays a role in the etiology of delinquency in females. They report on their findings from 206 women who were treated for sexual abuse in a hospital setting and then matched that data with the women’s criminal records. They found that children who were abused were more likely to offend, but that abuse predicted certain kinds of offenses. Additionally, it was found that other factors, such as neglect by family members and multiple kinds of abuse were associated with worse behavior (Siegel and Williams, 2003). They wanted to investigate why a growing number of women have become involved with the criminal justice system. Some studies reported that almost half of female delinquents had been sexually abused. This points to several conclusions,
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General strain theory contends that a variety of negative relationships or events with other individuals are considered strains that require a person to react in some way. When strains become severe or overwhelming and the individual cannot cope in a positive manner, that individual may engage in criminal behavior. In many cases, childhood physical and sexual abuse meet all these criteria and thus may be particularly consequential for emotional states and behavior. They used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The researchers found that childhood physical and sexual abuse are strong predictors of adolescent criminality. Watts and McNulty (2013) found that GST is supported when examining the effects that childhood physical abuse has on offending for both sexes. They specifically found that both sexes are mediated when they have signs of depression symptoms. Females are mediated by the closeness to their mothers. Lastly, the researchers found that male childhood abuse victims persistently engage in crimes even when controlling for low self-control, delinquent peers, and school attachment (Watts & McNulty, 2013). Their research is flawed in the sense that they measured child abuse as an umbrella factor. They did not control for relation of the abuser to the child or other specific details of …show more content…
Kaplow and Widom (2007) examined maltreated children while exploring the time in the children’s lives when the maltreatment began and comparing it to later deficits in psychological functioning. They looked at different time period categorized of developmental (ages 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11), continuous (ages 0-11), and dichotomous with was two groups (ages 0-5 vs. ages 6-11) compared against each other. The researchers followed up with 496 children who were abused or neglected before age 12 (Kaplow & Widom, 2007). Their results indicated that an earlier onset of maltreatment (dichotomous and developmental) was more predictive of anxiety and depression (internalizing issues). In addition, a later onset of maltreatment was more predictive of worse behavioral issues (externalizing issues). Their results helped to pave the understanding that age of onset of maltreatment affects children later in life. In addition, it is important to differentiate that age of onset may lead to separate courses of psychological or behavioral issues (Kaplow & Widom,
General strain theory contends that a variety of negative relationships or events with other individuals are considered strains that require a person to react in some way. When strains become severe or overwhelming and the individual cannot cope in a positive manner, that individual may engage in criminal behavior. In many cases, childhood physical and sexual abuse meet all these criteria and thus may be particularly consequential for emotional states and behavior. They used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The researchers found that childhood physical and sexual abuse are strong predictors of adolescent criminality. Watts and McNulty (2013) found that GST is supported when examining the effects that childhood physical abuse has on offending for both sexes. They specifically found that both sexes are mediated when they have signs of depression symptoms. Females are mediated by the closeness to their mothers. Lastly, the researchers found that male childhood abuse victims persistently engage in crimes even when controlling for low self-control, delinquent peers, and school attachment (Watts & McNulty, 2013). Their research is flawed in the sense that they measured child abuse as an umbrella factor. They did not control for relation of the abuser to the child or other specific details of …show more content…
Kaplow and Widom (2007) examined maltreated children while exploring the time in the children’s lives when the maltreatment began and comparing it to later deficits in psychological functioning. They looked at different time period categorized of developmental (ages 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11), continuous (ages 0-11), and dichotomous with was two groups (ages 0-5 vs. ages 6-11) compared against each other. The researchers followed up with 496 children who were abused or neglected before age 12 (Kaplow & Widom, 2007). Their results indicated that an earlier onset of maltreatment (dichotomous and developmental) was more predictive of anxiety and depression (internalizing issues). In addition, a later onset of maltreatment was more predictive of worse behavioral issues (externalizing issues). Their results helped to pave the understanding that age of onset of maltreatment affects children later in life. In addition, it is important to differentiate that age of onset may lead to separate courses of psychological or behavioral issues (Kaplow & Widom,