NCJ Number
198972
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 71-94
Date Published
February 2003
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article examines the relationship between child sexual abuse and female crime.
Abstract
As a result of the increase in girls’ delinquency and women’s crime, researchers are more interested in discovering factors that impact female crime. It has been hypothesized that child sexual abuse plays an important part in the etiology of female crime. As such, the authors studied 206 women who were treated in a hospital emergency room for sexual abuse during 1973 through 1975. The research question focused on whether sexual abuse victims were at an increased risk of arrest when compared to other girls and women. A related research question focused on whether sexual abuse victims were more likely to be arrested for certain offenses when compared to a control group of women offenders. Results of statistical analysis revealed that girls who had been sexually abused were no more likely to have a later juvenile arrest record than were girls who did not suffer sexual abuse. However, the results showed that these victims of sexual abuse were more likely to be arrested as adults than a control group of women who were not sexually abused. Furthermore, the variables of familial neglect and abuse were also significantly related to arrest records. The authors caution that this research is a preliminary attempt to draw conclusions about the etiology of women’s crime and its link to childhood sexual abuse. More research is called for as there does seem to be a link between women’s crime and childhood sexual abuse. Tables, notes, references