Boys who are neglected by parents are at risk of growing up as violent youngsters, a new research by the Penn State shows.
According to the researchers, findings showed that the chief predictor of violent behavior in adolescent boys is physical neglect during childhood.
"One of the problems with studying neglect is that it is an act of omission, rather than one of commission. In other words, it is characterized as the absence of an act, rather than an actual act of mistreatment," William McGuigan, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Shenango, said in a press release. "However, now we have better measures and larger databases to document neglect."
Researchers defined physical neglect as not taking a sick or injured child to the doctor, improperly clothing a child and not feeding a child. For the study, researchers examined data gathered from survey of 85 participants. All the participants were in a Pennsylvania detention center for delinquent males
The findings showed that 29.4 percent of the participants admitted to experiencing at least one incidence of childhood neglect. Acts of violence included fighting with students or parents, hitting teachers or instructors and using a weapon to scare, rob or injure another person.
"It sounds somewhat contrarian, but the physical abuse might at least show that parents are paying some type of attention to the child," said McGuigan explained.
According to McGuigan, the findings of the study might prove helpful in determining how neglect can influence violent behavior in adolescent boys. It could possibly lead to better education for caregivers and better care for at-risk youths. Furthermore, it might be helpful in understanding the youths at risk of such violence.
