Here's how a Washington state crisis center report described 10-year-old Malcom Engle's past: Physical abuse. Severe and regular sexual abuse by his father. Sexual acting out. Severe neglect. Suicide attempts and a threat to kill a staff member. Heavy exposure to drugs in utero. Fire-starting. Bizarre and psychotic symptoms. As a 12-year-old, Engle improperly touched his sister, continuing the family's cycle of sexual abuse. By the time he was 18, he had been through two juvenile institutions, five psychiatric hospitals, six group homes, four crisis residential centers, five juvenile detentions and one relative placement.

Engle's troubled history led the state to bar him and his wife from taking their newborn son home from the hospital in January. "I may be an ex-con, juvenile troublemaker, but now I'm a dad," Engle lamented in a recent article in the Spokane, Wa., Spokesman-Review. "I guess they think I've got a genetic mean streak."

Fairly or not, genetics may indeed have factored into the state's decision. Other predictors of heightened risk include the severity of abuse suffered by the parent, poverty, young parents, substance abuse, and a history of mental illness or depression. Engle displayed nearly all of the criteria, but there is good news. Studies that focus on childhood abuse victims show they are more likely to abuse or neglect their own children, but the vast majority - up to 75% according to some studies - break the abuse cycle.

"A history of abuse is a risk factor - it is not a guarantee," said Katherine Pears, a research scientist and psychologist at the Oregon Social Learning Center. "The good news is that there are parenting programs out there that have been shown to be effective." Lucy Berliner, director of the Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center agrees. "We know that intervention and treatment can work with abused children."

Malcolm Engle underwent intensive counseling during his teenage years, but the window of opportunity may have already closed. "I never seen the touchy, feely emotion-type thing. I never seen people come up and say, 'Hey, what's wrong?' or give a hug. I was raised by a system, not people." Now Engle's son appears unlikely to receive that care from his parents.