Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders Who Were Abused as Children

Abstract

Should a history of child abuse be taken into consideration when a juvenile offender is punished? Although some research shows that child abuse is used as a mitigating factor for juvenile offenders (i.e., elicits less punitive sentences), surveys of juvenile court officials reveal that it is considered an aggravating factor. Specifically, in controlled mock jury studies in which child abuse is experimentally manipulated, child abuse elicits less punitive sentences. In contrast, child abuse elicits more punitive sentences in a nonexperimentally controlled environment—the juvenile justice system. This article provides a comprehensive literature review to explain these conflicting bodies of research by considering factors that naturally covary with childhood abuse: chaotic family environment, mental health problems, behavioral problems, and school problems.

KEYWORDS:

• juvenile offenders
• child abuse
• expert testimony
• child maltreatment
• race
• juvenile delinquency
• juvenile sentencing
• mitigating factors

I thank Dr. Bette Bottoms and Nancy Halbutzel for their helpful comments on the project.

Notes

Juvenile Court Act. 705 ILCS 405/5–805, 5–810, 5–130 (1987)

Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000)