Child Maltreatment and Adjustment to Confinement: an Exploratory Study of Male Juvenile Offenders in China

AbstractWhereas Western research has shown that childhood maltreatment experiences may have a negative impact on inmates ’ adjustment to confinement, such studies are rare in China. The present study aims to address the respective research gap. In a two-wave longitudinal project, 514 male juvenile offenders were interviewed in a centralized provincial juvenile reformatory in southwest China regarding their childhood maltreatment experiences, incarceration experiences, and their pre-incarceration at-risk behaviors or experiences. While controlling for demographic characteristics and variables derived from correctional importation and deprivation models, multiple linear regression analyses show a significant cor relation between childhood maltreatment experiences and juveniles’ adjustment to confinement. Specifically, there is a positive correlation between the level of childhood emotional abuse and negative emotions among incarcerated juveniles, a negative correlation between childhood emotional neglect and juvenile offenders’ adjustment to prison life, and a positive correlation between childhood sexual abuse experiences and adjustment to prison life. The present study provides evidence that child maltreatment, especially emotional abuse and neglect, impacts juvenile offenders’ adjustment to c onfinement in China. This demonstrates the importance of offering institutional programs that would assist juvenile offenders with childhood maltreatment experiences, especially...

Source: Journal of Family Violence - July 31, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research