Effects of Cumulate and Lifetime Exposure to Violence on Delinquent Behaviors in Felony Youth

• In Event: Developmental Approaches to the Victim-Offender Overlap

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that juveniles who experience victimization are more likely to report self-reported offenses. Yet, it remains unknown whether the lifetime of or cumulative exposure to violence had a more significant impact on the later offenses. The study uses the Pathways to Desistance Study to examine the differences between (1) the relationship between the lifetime of exposure to violence and self-reported offenses and (2) a cumulate level of exposure to violence and its influence on self-reported offenses in a sample of adjudicated youth. The findings suggested that an experience of violence at an early age will have a greater impact on the likelihood of offending than an experience at a later age. The cumulative effects are stable over time. Study limitations and policy implications are discussed.

Author

• Meng Ru (Lily) Shih, University of Louisiana at Lafayette