Revisiting a Criminological Classic: The Cycle of Violence. (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Myers, Wesley; Lloyd, Kristin; Turanovic, Jillian J.; Pratt, Travis C.
• Other Names: Savolainen Jukka guest-editor.; VanEseltine Matthew guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of contemporary criminal justice. Volume 34:Number 3(2018:Aug.)
• Page Start: 266
• Page End: 286
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: cycle of violence -- replication -- child abuse -- neglect; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States -- Periodicals; 364.973
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986218770003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1043-9862

Abstract

There is a growing "replication crisis" in the social and behavioral sciences, where original research across a wide array of substantive areas has failed to replicate when conducted by others. This problem highlights the importance of carefully revisiting original research—particularly studies that have exerted a significant influence over the field. Accordingly, in the present study, we subject Widom's classic work, "The Cycle of Violence, " to a rigorous empirical reproduction and extension. We subjected her original data to alternative analytic techniques and to different measurement strategies and model specifications. Our results indicated that although we were able to replicate her original results, the link between childhood physical abuse and violence in adulthood failed to survive the robustness checks we conducted. Instead, childhood neglect emerged as the most robust predictor of adult violence.