Baidawi Susan, Newton Danielle, Mendes Philip, Bollinger Jenna, Purtell Jade
Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2025 Jul;26(3):403-419. doi: 10.1177/15248380241279861. Epub 2024 Sep 20.
Individuals who have experienced child protection system involvement are over-represented in criminal justice systems. This group faces greater risks of serious offending and justice system entrenchment relative to their peers without child protection system contact. Understanding the pathways from child protection to adult criminal justice system contact is critical for informing crime prevention policy and practice, yet most research on the maltreatment-offending relationship solely focuses on children's pathways from child protection to youth justice systems. This scoping review identified and synthesized evidence from studies examining adult justice system contact among individuals who have experienced child protection system involvement (including placement in out-of-home care [OOHC]). A search of six databases identified 7,599 publications, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. These primary studies included adult participants with a history of child protection system involvement and adult criminal justice system contact (defined by administrative records or self-reported arrest, conviction, or incarceration). The review identified that many factors associated with increased likelihood of adult criminal justice system contact reflect those identified for youth justice involvement (e.g., male gender, racial minority or Indigenous status, a history of substantiated maltreatment, particularly physical abuse, placement in OOHC, particularly placement in residential care, placement for reasons of problem behavior, initial placement in early adolescence, and placement instability). While youth justice system contact is associated with increased risk, engagement in education or employment (for males), and becoming a parent appear to be associated with decreased risk of criminal justice system contact among adults previously involved in child protection systems.
曾与儿童保护系统有过接触的人在刑事司法系统中的占比过高。相较于那些未与儿童保护系统有过接触的同龄人，这一群体面临着更高的严重犯罪风险和司法系统困境。了解从儿童保护到成人刑事司法系统接触的路径对于制定预防犯罪政策和实践至关重要，然而，大多数关于虐待与犯罪关系的研究仅关注儿童从儿童保护到青少年司法系统的路径。本综述确定并综合了来自研究曾与儿童保护系统有过接触的个人（包括被安置在家庭外照料机构[OOHC]）与成人司法系统接触情况的研究证据。对六个数据库的检索共识别出7599篇出版物，其中37篇符合纳入标准。这些主要研究包括有儿童保护系统接触史和成人刑事司法系统接触史（由行政记录或自我报告的逮捕、定罪或监禁定义）的成年参与者。该综述指出，许多与成人刑事司法系统接触可能性增加相关的因素与那些被确定为与青少年司法接触相关的因素相同（例如，男性、少数族裔或原住民身份、有确凿证据的虐待史，尤其是身体虐待、被安置在OOHC，特别是被安置在寄宿照料机构、因行为问题而被安置、在青春期早期首次被安置以及安置不稳定）。虽然与青少年司法系统接触会增加风险，但接受教育或就业（对男性而言）以及成为父母似乎与曾参与儿童保护系统的成年人刑事司法系统接触风险降低有关。
