CHILD-REARING AND CHILD-ABUSE ANTECEDENTS OF CRIMINALITY

A number of studies reviewed here show that those who are exposed to n egative child-rearing practices varying from punitive and lax parentin g to severe punishment and abuse in childhood tend to be antisocial, a ggressive and commit violent crimes later in life. Both the record app roach (Widom) studying Inter outcomes among abused children and the re trospective approach (Lewis) studying violent childhood experiences am ong offenders provide support for the violence breeds violence hypothe sis. It appears clear that punishment in child-rearing increases the r isk for maladaptive developmental outcomes but that the mechanism expl aining the link between negative parenting and later maladjustment is still an unresolved issue. The review argues that a trauma model is th e most interesting theoretical approach in explaining the mechanism. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.