Child maltreatment re-offending in families served by the United States Air Force Family Advocacy Program

Abstract

The current study examined child maltreatment re-offending in United States Air Force (USAF) families. In a clinical database containing 24,999 child maltreatment incidents perpetrated by 15,042 offenders between the years 1997 and 2013, 13% of offenders maltreated a child on more than one date (i.e., they re-offended). We explored several offender demographic characteristics associated with who re-offended and found that civilians re-offended at a similar rate as active duty members, males re-offended at a similar rate as females, and younger offenders were more likely to re-offend than older offenders. We also explored incident characteristics associated with who re-offended: Re-offending was more likely if the initial maltreatment was neglect or emotional abuse and re-offenders were likely to perpetrate subsequent maltreatment that was the same type and severity as their initial incident. The current data indicate that young offenders and offenders of neglect and emotional maltreatment are the greatest risk of re-offending. These offender and incident characteristics could be used by the USAF to guide their efforts to reduce re-offending.

Keywords: Child abuse; Child maltreatment; Re-offending; Recidivism; United States Air Force.