Does Child Abuse Cause Crime?

Abstract

Does Child Abuse Cause Crime? * Child maltreatment, which includes both child abuse and child neglect, is a major social problem. This paper focuses on measuring the effects of child maltreatment on crime using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). We focus on crime because it is one of the most socially costly potential outcomes of maltreatment, and because the proposed mechanisms linking maltreatment and crime are relatively well elucidated in the literature. Our work addresses many limitations of the existing literature on child maltreatment. First, we use a large national sample, and investigate different types of abuse in a similar framework. Second, we pay careful attention to identifying the causal impact of abuse, by using a variety of statistical methods that make differing assumptions. These methods include: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), propensity score matching estimators, and twin fixed effects. Finally, we examine the extent to which the effects of maltreatment vary with socio-economic status (SES), gender, and the severity of the maltreatment. We find that maltreatment approximately doubles the probability of engaging in many types of crime. Low SES children are both more likely to be mistreated and suffer more damaging effects. Boys are at greater risk than girls, at least in terms of increased propensity to commit crime. Sexual abuse appears to have the largest negative effects, perhaps justifying the emphasis on this type of abuse in the literature. Finally, the probability of engaging in crime increases with the experience of multiple forms of maltreatment as well as the experience of Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation. JEL Classification:I1, K4

Child Labor in English Literature

“…Children who had just one surviving parent, children who had lost both of their parents, or children whose parents had ignored them were all referred to as orphans. (Tekin & Currie, 2006). Some children were placed in workhouses, while others walked out on the streets looking for work to end up as criminals or alcohol addicts.…”

“…Some children were placed in workhouses, while others walked out on the streets looking for work to end up as criminals or alcohol addicts. The unfair and corrupt system of the government did little to help them (Tekin & Currie, 2006).…”

Children no more than ‘little adults child labour as major consequence of the industrial revolution in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist

“…They suffered in the corrupt system since the government did nothing to assist them. Moreover, these children were adopted (Tekin & Janet, 2006). During Dickens' time, child apprentices were common.…”