How maltreatment matters: Effects of child maltreatment on academic performance

Abstract

Purpose – Child abuse is widely accepted as having a negative effect on children's academic achievement. It is less clear why this relationship exists. Current explanations of the abuse-academic achievement connection rely on psychological theories that overlook the impact the abuse has on children's developmentally relevant social circumstances.

Methodology/approach – Using data from the National Survey of Adolescents (NSA), a nationally representative sample of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years old, a social capital perspective is implemented to show how abuse impacts academic achievement.

Findings – Children victimized by physical or sexual abuse are more likely to join deviant peer groups, which in turn leads to increased levels of delinquent behavior by the individual. Both the “negative” social capital of the peer group and the deviant individual behaviors explain away much of the disparity in performance between abused and non-abused children and contribute to the overall understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the effects of abuse.

Originality/value of chapter – These findings provide evidence of the impact abuse can have on children's well-being and outlines social mechanisms that connect abuse victimization to children's outcomes.

Citation

Jason Potter, D. (2010), "How maltreatment matters: Effects of child maltreatment on academic performance", Beth Johnson, H. (Ed.) Children and Youth Speak for Themselves (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 167-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-4661(2010)0000013010