Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

School Engagement and Juvenile Offending Among Maltreated Youth Who Vary by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Type of Child Maltreatment

“Child maltreatment is a pervasive social problem affecting millions of children and their families every year. While past research has documented the short and long-term deleterious outcomes of abused and neglected children, variations in outcomes based on type of maltreatment, race/ethnicity, and gender are not well understood. This study explored the interrelationships of these variables on youths’ school engagement and juvenile criminal offending in a large, diverse sample followed prospectively from the time of maltreatment until youths’ sixteenth birthday” (p. 2). Results are provided for: school engagement-truancy for females, truancy for males, academic credits for females, academic credits for males, suspension and expulsions for females, and suspensions and expulsions for males; juvenile crime-misdemeanors by females, misdemeanors by males, felonies by females, felonies by males, violent felonies by females, and violent felonies by males. It appears that American Indian, Black, and Hispanic youth tend to have poorer outcomes that Asian and White boys and girls.