Juvenile Victims of Violence Often Exhibit Delinquent Behavior

Date:  05-08-2014 Study shows that girls often dissociate as a reaction to violence

Reclaiming Futures reports that a new study discovered that early intervention is the key to help children exposed to violence disengage from further delinquent behavior: A new study from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence underscores the importance for early intervention of childhood exposure to violence to prevent these children from future delinquency (also referred to in other studies as “bullying”). This study offers a new look at the relationship between victimization and delinquency for children 10 to 17 years-old and through four different categories: Primarily delinquent behavior and not victims Primarily victims and no delinquent behavior Both delinquent behavior and victims Neither victims nor delinquent behavior Delinquency includes violent behavior, drug and alcohol use, and actions that involve property destruction, such as stealing or breaking property. Research has found that boys and girls experience and react to violence differently, and this study is no exception. Boys in the delinquent behavior and victim group experienced much more victimization in the past year than boys in the primarily victim group. In addition, these boys also had more delinquent behavior than the primarily delinquent behavior group. Click here to read more.