Child Maltreatment, Youth Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Elder Mistreatment: A Review and Theoretical Analysis of Research on Violence Across the Life Course

Abstract

This article reports the results of a scoping review of the literature on life-course patterns of violence that span the developmental periods of childhood, adolescence, and early and middle adulthood. We also assess the evidence on elder mistreatment and its relation to earlier forms of violence. Additionally, we draw on theories and empirical studies to help explain the transmission of violence over time and relational contexts and the factors that appear to mitigate risks and promote resilience in individuals exposed to violence. Results suggest that encounters with violence beginning in childhood elevate the risk for violence in subsequent developmental periods. The strongest connections are between child maltreatment (physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) and violence in adolescence and between violence in adolescence and violence in early and middle adulthood. Persistence of violence into older adulthood leading to elder mistreatment is less well-documented, but probable, based on available research. We conclude that more attention should be paid to studying developmental patterns and intersecting forms of violence that extend into old age. To eradicate violence in all its forms, considerably more must be done to increase awareness of the repetition of violence; to connect research to actionable steps for prevention and intervention across the life course; and to better integrate systems that serve vulnerable children, youth, and adults. Primary prevention is essential to breaking the cycle of violence within families and to alleviating the risks to children caused by poverty and other external factors such as social disconnection within communities.

Impacts of Male Intimate Partner Violence on Women: A Life Course Perspective

“…Studies of IPV over one's life course have focused mainly on patterns of violence, revealing how early experiences of violence are associated with negative health outcomes and the perpetration and victimisation of violence during adolescence and adulthood, as well as across generations [25,26]. Life course analyses also examined the temporal sequence of IPV and other aspects of health and wellbeing.…”

Staying alive: A 21st century agenda for mental health, child protection and forensic services

“…A common process underlies all three treatment systems: strategies to protect oneself and one’s family from danger, leading to diverse mental health, child protection and criminal outcomes. Not only were most maltreating parents and criminals maltreated as children (Bowlby, 1944; Spinetta and Rigler, 1972; Weeks and Widom, 1998), but their children are at risk for all three conditions (Herrenkohl et al, 2020; Lippard and Nemeroff, 2020). All three conditions reflect danger to life itself (Ertl et al, 2019) and, when they occur in childhood, to accurate and complete information about danger in the future.…”

A Prospective Study on Child Abuse and Elder Mistreatment: Assessing Direct Effects and Associations With Depression and Substance Use Problems During Adolescence and Middle Adulthood

“… Teaster and Brossoie (2016) proposed that the misuse of alcohol and other drugs can signal desperate attempts on the part of an adult child to cope with the stress and demands of caregiving, and to cover over feelings of inadequacy and unhealthy dependency on older adults. It is also important to note that substance abuse and depression are also consequences of child abuse and neglect ( T. I. Herrenkohl et al, 2013 , 2020 ), which indicates that they may play a pivotal, yet unstudied, role in the continuation and spread of abuse within families and across generations. Interestingly, a study by Kong and Moorman (2015) found that adult children who provided care to their once abusive and neglectful parents had more frequent symptoms of depression than those who had not been maltreated.…”

“…The tendency for abuse within families to spread across relationships is documented in numerous cross-sectional and a few longitudinal studies ( T. I. Herrenkohl et al, 2020 ). In fact, evidence suggests that adults who were abused as children are at significantly higher risk than are others for abusing and being victimized by an intimate partner, and, possibly, for mistreating their own children ( T. I. Herrenkohl et al, 2020 ). For some individuals, exposure to abuse is endured over many years ( T. I. Herrenkohl et al, 2020 ; Wilkins et al, 2014 ).…”

“…In fact, evidence suggests that adults who were abused as children are at significantly higher risk than are others for abusing and being victimized by an intimate partner, and, possibly, for mistreating their own children ( T. I. Herrenkohl et al, 2020 ). For some individuals, exposure to abuse is endured over many years ( T. I. Herrenkohl et al, 2020 ; Wilkins et al, 2014 ). Finkelhor and colleagues (2007 , 2011 , 2013 ) coined the term “polyvictimization” to refer to patterns of abuse in which individuals are repeatedly victimized over different life stages, placing them at very high risk for serious health and mental health problems.…”