Widom Cathy Spatz, Allwood Maureen, Chauhan Preeti, Li Xuechen, Courtney Kellie, Are Funlola G
Psychology Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA.
Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2025 May;30(2):195-207. doi: 10.1177/10775595241272040. Epub 2024 Aug 27.
One overlooked result in a 1989 paper on the "cycle of violence" was a race-specific increase in risk for arrest for violence among Black maltreated children, but not White maltreated children. We examine whether race differences in the cycle of violence are explained by risk factors traditionally associated with violence. Using a prospective design, maltreated and non-maltreated children were matched on age, sex, race, and approximate family social class and interviewed at mean age 28.7 years ( = 1196). Arrest histories were obtained through age 50.5. Regression analyses included maltreatment, race, self-reported violent behavior, and risk factors (e.g., family, school, neighborhood variables). For arrests for violent crime, race was a significant predictor, whereas childhood maltreatment was not significant. For violent arrests, there was a significant race × maltreatment interaction when the total number of risk factors were included controlling for self-reported violent behaviors. For self-reported violent behaviors, childhood maltreatment remained significant for some risk factors. However, race did predict self-reported violent behaviors. Offending behavior and traditional risk factors did not explain the disproportionate arrests among Black maltreated children. This disparity in the cycle of violence may reflect complex processes influenced by racial bias or structural racism.
1989年一篇关于“暴力循环”的论文中一个被忽视的结果是，受虐待的黑人儿童暴力犯罪被捕风险存在种族特异性增加，而受虐待的白人儿童则没有。我们研究暴力循环中的种族差异是否可以由传统上与暴力相关的风险因素来解释。采用前瞻性设计，将受虐待和未受虐待的儿童按年龄、性别、种族和大致家庭社会阶层进行匹配，并在平均年龄28.7岁时进行访谈（n = 1196）。通过50.5岁时获取逮捕记录。回归分析包括虐待、种族、自我报告的暴力行为和风险因素（如家庭、学校、邻里变量）。对于暴力犯罪被捕情况，种族是一个显著的预测因素，而儿童期虐待则不显著。对于暴力逮捕情况，在控制自我报告的暴力行为并纳入风险因素总数时，存在显著的种族×虐待交互作用。对于自我报告的暴力行为，儿童期虐待在某些风险因素方面仍然显著。然而，种族确实能预测自我报告的暴力行为。犯罪行为和传统风险因素并不能解释受虐待黑人儿童中不成比例的逮捕情况。暴力循环中的这种差异可能反映了受种族偏见或结构性种族主义影响的复杂过程。
