Introduction
Unfortunately, some children will encounter some type of childhood maltreatment. Maltreatment includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect and/or emotional neglect. According to McMahon and Clay-Warner, children who experience abuse are more likely to engage in future criminal behaviour and associate themselves with deviant peers. Children who experienced neglect had a higher rate of arrest than non-neglected children (Kaylor & Otis).
Children who experience childhood maltreatment are more likely to engage in deviant behaviour. “A progressive drift into deviant behaviours begins to limit prosocial options. Arrest records, drug use, alcohol problems and early pregnancies diminish options for education and employment” (Whitbeck, Hoyt, Yoder, Cause, & Paradise). Adolescents with a
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Cronley, Jeong, Davis, and Madden studied homeless adolescents who experienced childhood maltreatment compared to adolescents living at home who experienced childhood maltreatment. Whitbeck, Hoyt, and Ackley study were different from Cronley et al. because they only studied homeless adolescents who were directly on the streets or in shelters. Tyler and Cauce’s study was like Whitbeck et al. since they only interviewed homeless adolescents living on the streets and in shelters. Tyler and Cause studied not only males and females, but sexual minority youth. There are many adolescents that have left home due to an experience of abuse. Research has shown that adolescents that are homeless and/or runaways are more likely to engage in deviant behaviour for basic necessities and affiliate themselves with deviant peers. (Cronley et al.; Whitbeck et al.) To note, not all adolescents who experience childhood maltreatment will leave home to engage in deviant behaviour or just engage in deviant behaviour. Adolescents will do what they feel is best for them in an abusive