Effects of Child Abuse on Adulthood

Effects of Child Abuse on Adulthood

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Institution

Effects of Child Abuse on Adulthood

Among the major, long-lasting effect of child abuse, is the tendency for the abused child to commit a crime in their adulthood. For this reason, child abuse is an important area for criminologists, especially in the prevention of crime. The correlation between upbringing and adult behavior can be explained from the angles of the environment, socialization, psychological factors and biological aspect, among others.

According to Harris (2011), child abuse triggers the starting a cycle of violence since the abused children are likely to engage in a crime in the future. In relation to the role of a victim of crime, children and young adults as victims play an important role in the crime that targets them because of their vulnerability. In relation to the ecology of crime too, the statistics have shown that most crimes targeting children occur at home. Further, the statistics show that these crimes occur more than once. The data reveals that the vulnerability of the children is high and that a criminal tends to commit a crime repeatedly, triggering a repeated cycle.

Crime has dire consequences that trigger long-lasting effects, leading to a cycle of criminal activities by a family lineage. For example, the biological-linked theories of crime posit that the urge to commit crime is inscribed in the genes and is passed genetically from a generation to another. In matters socialization, a child learns from the parents and peers. This can be seen from the data clearly since most of the children who were abused participated in alcohol and drug abuse, while those who were not abused had no cases of alcohol and drug abuse. In regard to the environment, a child who grows in a violent environment will tend to be violent (Harris, 2011). In the data provided, 60% of the abused children reported having committed a violent act. Psychologically, an abused child will tend to suffer from mental disturbance. In the absence of ineffective counseling, the child may result to criminal activities in order to displace the trauma disturbing them. An abused child, therefore, leads a disturbing life, and may even tend to have suicidal thoughts that are also criminal.

In sum, the data provided in the case study brings out clear indications in the support of the comprehension of criminology concepts. In essence, the data suggest that a child’s criminal activity in the future will depend on their child socialization, environment, psychological wellbeing and biological aspects. This data is very vital in the prevention of crime.

Reference

Harris, R.J. (2011). The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way they do. New York, NY: Free Press.