On page 469 the authors point to research by Fergusson et al. (2006) that showed that "childhood exposure to partner violence did not increase the risk of being a perpetrator or a victim of partner violence." In fact, there are scholars whose research indicates that "…most maltreated children do not turn to criminal offending later in life" although there are "long-term consequences" for children that were abused (Reckdenwald, 469). Those consequences may include "…revictimization, self-destructive [personal] behaviors, and substance abuse"; clearly a child that was abused and later abuses alcohol or drugs (or other destructive behaviors like becoming obese through poor diet) is not necessarily hurting others, so the cycle of violence doesn't hold up on those cases.
Moreover, another strong point made by Reckdenwald is that childhood abuse can lead during adolescence to: a) poor performance in school; b) mental health issues; c) peer groups made up of "deviant" members; d) a lack of skills to solve problems that come up in life; and e) "running away from home" (469).
As to the research that was conducted on incarcerated sex offenders in Canada, the authors report that "as predicted," the specific type of abuse that a child receives "…does in fact have a differential impact on offending" (based on research in Canada) (Reckdenwald, 476). In fact...
One of the limitations is that the "mail maltreatment predictors" were based on "self-reports" from the offenders, and how reliable can that information be expected to be? Also, in future research on childhood abuse issues there should be a "…more systematic examination of what causes individuals to carry trauma through their life," and why do they then inflict harm on others when they found it so hurtful and demeaning when it happened to them?
Works Cited
Reckdenwald, a., Mancini, C., and Beauregard, E. (2013). The Cycle of Violence: Examining
the Impact of Maltreatment Early in Life on Adult Offending. Violence and Victims,…
