Poster #35 - Child Maltreatment and Recidivism: Do Maltreatment Patterns Influence General and Violent Reoffending?

• In Event: ASC Poster Session I

Abstract

This study aimed to group justice-involved youth (JIY) based on their maltreatment experiences and investigate the extent to which pattens of maltreatment predicted the likelihood of reoffending. Using archival data from 5,194 JIY (18.5% female; 46.6% Black; 44.9% Hispanic; 8.6% White) in a large Texas juvenile probation department, we applied latent class analysis to identify distinct maltreatment classes based on five types of maltreatment: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence. The three-class solution exhibited sufficiently good classification. The “Poly-victimization” class (17.8%) exhibited high probabilities of endorsing all five types, the “Psychological Maltreatment” class (15.3%) showed high probabilities of endorsing emotional abuse and neglect, and the “Low Maltreatment” class (66.9%) displayed modest probabilities across all types. In addition, JIY in the “Poly-victimization” and “Psychological Maltreatment” classes had a higher likelihood of general and violent reoffending during a one-year follow-up controlling for relevant covariates. These results emphasize the importance of prioritizing intervention efforts for JIY in these high-risk groups, offering valuable insights for tailoring evidence-based approaches to reduce maltreatment and reoffending.

Author

• Nan Li, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley