Childhood Victimization and Adult Incarceration: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

A growing body of work estimates the prevalence of childhood victimization among incarcerated people. The present study seeks to descriptively and quantitatively summarize this abundant literature by reviewing studies that report childhood victimization prevalence among people incarcerated in the United States. The review includes any study of childhood victimization that uses a sample of incarcerated adults (age eighteen or older) and that reports the proportion of the sample that experienced child abuse and/or neglect. Sixty-seven studies met these criteria and were analyzed, encompassing 1,187,044 incarcerated individuals. The studies vary in sample characteristics, methodological features, and employ an exceedingly wide range of victimization measures. Meta-analyses for pooled prevalence rates revealed that the inter-study heterogeneity was too great to draw conclusive summary estimates of childhood victimization from this literature, even when disaggregating by victimization type. Exploratory t-tests and correlation analyses suggest that a study’s sample size, racial, ethnic, and gender composition, and variation in victimization measurement can influence reported child abuse and neglect, but more research is needed to fully assess how study characteristics influence reported victimization prevalence. Understanding the extensiveness of childhood victimization histories among incarcerated people emphasizes the need for robust screening and treatment for people within correctional facilities, as well as improved community prevention and intervention efforts.