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Abstract
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Critically examines the "violence breeds violence" hypothesis broadly defined. Organized into seven sections, the literature review includes (a) the abuse breeds abuse hypothesis; (b) reports of small numbers of violent/homicidal offenders; (c) studies examining the relationship of abuse and neglect to delinquency, (d) to violent behavior, and (e) to aggressive behavior in infants and young children; (f) abuse, withdrawal, and self-destructive behavior; and (g) studies of the impact of witnessing or observing violent behavior. A detailed discussion of methodological considerations and shortcomings precedes the review. The author concludes that existing knowledge of the long-term consequences of abusive home environments is limited and suggests that conclusions about the strength of the cycle of violence be tempered by the dearth of convincing empirical evidence. Recommendations are made for further research.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study by Widom was to provide a comprehensive and critical assessment of the "violence breeds violence" hypothesis by examining the empirical literature found in the fields of psychology, sociology, criminology, psychiatry, social work and nursing.
METHODOLOGY:
The author conducted a non-experimental exploratory study, evaluating literature collected from computerized searches of psychological and educational abstracts, as well as from the national database on child abuse, through the year 1985.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The author began with an examination of methodologies employed in studies in the field of violence, and concluded that the many methodological problems that are evident hamper current research. The definition and criteria for child abuse and neglect vary widely, making research less replicable and therefore less reliable. The retrospective nature of the data makes its accuracy questionable, due to possible recall problems. Sampling techniques are often weak, using populations chosen for convenience rather than for representativeness. Many studies are ex post facto in nature, so prediction power is not strong. Most also rely on correlations, so that the issue of causality cannot be addressed. Abused and neglected children are usually treated as one group, which may hide important distinctions between the two. There is generally a lack of control groups in most studies, with no consideration of statistical base rates. The outcome variables usually include general delinquency, rather than violent criminal behavior. Finally, few of the studies examine the long-term effects of childhood abuse and neglect upon behavior in adulthood.
The author broke down the "cycle of violence" hypothesis into a number of constituent parts. The first hypothesis found within the broader area is that "abuse breeds abuse." According to this belief, adults who were abused as children will be more likely to abuse their own children. The sparse empirical evidence for this hypothesis is hampered by an over-dependence upon retrospective and self-report data, as well as little use of control groups. Despite this, it seems that if abused as children adults are more likely to be abusers. However, most abusive parents were not victims of abuse as children.
A second type of evidence for the "cycle of violence" hypothesis is the use of case studies of violent or homicidal offenders in clinical settings. Studies have found a history of abuse in the backgrounds of these people. However, the studies use no control groups, do not control for confounding factors and rely upon small numbers of subjects who report retrospectively about prior abuse.
In order to examine the consequences of abuse and neglect in a larger and more controlled context, other researchers have examined the relationship between abuse or neglect and delinquency. In studies using a prospective design, fewer than 20% of abused or neglected children later exhibit delinquency. In retrospective studies, the rates of abuse in the backgrounds of delinquents range from 8% to 26%. Other studies examine the relationship between abuse or neglect and violent behavior, using either delinquent or patient groups for samples. Studies using juvenile delinquency find support for a relationship between abuse in childhood and later violent behavior, with violent boys being more likely to have experienced or witnessed abuse than non-violent boys. A smaller number of studies examine groups of patients, and conclude that violent patients are more likely to have been abused as children. These studies provide tentative support for the "cycle of violence" hypothesis, although some contradictory results do exist.
In developmental psychology research examining the relationship between abuse, neglect and aggressive behavior in young children, much research has been in the form of experimental laboratory studies. In general, these studies suggest that abused children will exhibit more aggression and problem behavior than those without such victimization experiences. Other studies have examined the notion that abuse in childhood results not only in external aggression, but also to internal aggression, withdrawal and self-destructive behavior. Findings suggest that childhood abuse can lead to self-abuse and ultimately to suicidal tendencies.
Many studies have examined the consequences of observing violence between parents or on television. Studies of children observing marital violence have found modest but consistent relationships between witnessing family aggression as a child and marital violence in the next generation. Among children witnessing family violence, 16% to 17% report marital violence in their own later relationships. Exposure to violence on television has been found to increase aggression, both immediately after viewing and in the long-term, as well as to lead to emotional insensitivity to violence and to a distorted perception of real-life violence.
The author concluded that despite the many studies in the field of family violence, researchers still do not know much about the consequences of an abusive family environment. It was suggested that the magnitude of the problem is hard to ascertain because of methodological flaws in many of the studies, as well as a simplistic conceptualization of the relationship between child abuse and violence.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author suggested a number of approaches to improve research in the area of violence. Included in these were the need to distinguish between abuse and neglect, and to include control variables such as measures of social desirability, number of children in the household and income level. More discriminating analyses, with protective factors such as personal attributes, environmental context, biological predisposition and positive events that could mediate the negative effects of violence should also be included, in order to understand why many children do not suffer the adverse effects of abuse and neglect. The author also cited the need for more sophisticated methodologies, and for a recognition of the shortcomings of previous work.
EVALUATION:
The author clearly and concisely presents a thorough review of the literature, as well as an important discussion of methodological problems and excellent suggestions for future research. This paper provides a valuable piece of critical evaluation for the study of the relationship between childhood abuse and violence. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-26, AB-26
KW - 1980s
KW - Intergenerational Transmission of Child Abuse
KW - Intergenerational Transmission of Violence
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Causes
KW - Domestic Violence Offender
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Long-Term Effects
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Abuse Offender
KW - Child Abuse Causes
KW - Child Physical Abuse Causes
KW - Child Physical Abuse Effects
KW - Child Physical Abuse Offender
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Child Victim
KW - Childhood Experience
KW - Childhood Victimization
KW - Victim Turned Offender
KW - Adult Parent
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Child Victim
KW - Parent Offender
KW - Literature Review
Language: en |