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Childhood Maltreatment To Delinquency

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Childhood Maltreatment to Delinquency

Women account for nearly eight to ten percent of the offending population (accounting for jails, prisons, community supervision, or a combination of these) (Hanser 2006: 329). In both men and women, there are a number of variables and precursors that lead to delinquency or criminal behavior, ranging from socioeconomic status to development, and may be understood and examined through the lens of multiple theories of crime. One variable in particular, the sexual maltreatment of young girls, could in fact be a major factor of female offending in adulthood. A study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1999 found that female offenders are abused more frequently than male offenders. While only …show more content…
According to Widom and Ames, both female and male victims of physical abuse are more likely than those not abused to become sex offenders, but physically abused men are more likely to become violent sex offenders (committing rape and sodomy), while physically abused women are more likely to be arrested for prostitution …show more content…
Once on the street, girls have few resources at their disposal, and many turn to prostitution and other street crimes to support themselves (Chesney-Lind, 1997). While there is other evidence supporting this pathway to crime, the relationship has not been conclusively affirmed. Research supports the relationship between sexual abuse and running away (Hagan & McCarthy, 1997). For example, a study where 195 runaways were interviewed revealed that 71 percent (50 percent of the males and 86 percent of the females) reported sexual abuse, and 24 percent of the women (but only 4 percent of the men) blamed the abuse for their running away. The causal chain between sexual abuse, running away, and prostitution is less established. However, in support of this hypothesis, qualitative interviews with female prostitutes reveal that over half report histories of sexual abuse, many report running away as their first delinquent act, and at least one-quarter cite sexual abuse as their reason for becoming prostitutes (Chesney-Lind & Rodriguez, 1983). In contrast, Widom and Ames find that although sexual abuse increases the likelihood of running away, none of the runaways in their sample were later arrested for prostitution

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