Juveniles with intellectual disabilities (ID) are more often
victims of maltreatment and more often perpetrators of abuse than juveniles
without ID. Because previous research on the relationship between maltreatment
victimisation and subsequent offending behaviour was primarily performed in
non-disabled samples, the present study aimed to examine differences between
juvenile offenders with and without ID in the relationship between maltreatment
victimisation and sexual and violent offending.
The sample consisted of juvenile offenders with ID (n = 102)
and without ID (n = 526) who appeared before the courts for a criminal act and
for whom the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment (WSJCA) was completed.
Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the strength of
the relationship between maltreatment and offending, Fisher's z tests were
calculated to assess the significance of the differences between the two groups
in the strength of the correlations, and multiple logistic regression analyses
were performed to examine the unique contribution of maltreatment victimisation
to the prediction of violent and sexual offending.
Seventy per cent of the juvenile offenders with ID and 42%
of the juvenile offenders without ID had experienced abuse and/or neglect. Both
sexual and violent offending were more common in juvenile offenders with ID
than in juvenile offenders without ID. Moreover, the relationship between
different forms of maltreatment and sexual offending was stronger in juvenile
offenders with ID than in juvenile offenders without ID.
Given the high rates of abuse and neglect victimisation and
the strength of the association between victimisation and sexual offending,
especially in juvenile offenders with ID, treatment should focus on potential
trauma and other problems associated with the abuse.
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By:
- 1Forensic Child and Youth Care Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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