New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research (2014) / Chapter Skim
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2 Describing the Problem
2 Describing the Problem
Pages 31-68
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From page 31... ...
The purpose of this chapter is to describe briefly what is known about the problem from current data sources and to highlight issues that remain problematic, as well as identify areas in which advances have been made. The chapter addresses, in turn, definitions of child abuse and neglect, incidence rates and the problem of underreporting, trends in the incidence of child abuse and neglect, and how cases are determined by medical and mental health professionals and the legal system.
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From page 32... ...
To collect data on reported and confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect uniformly from all states, NCANDS provides the following somewhat more comprehensive definition of child abuse and neglect: An act or failure to act by a parent, caregiver, or other person as defined under State law that results in physical abuse, neglect, medical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of harm to a child.
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From page 33... ...
The Minnesota state legislature instituted such a change in 1999. The result was a dramatic increase in the number of referrals, emanating mainly from law enforcement officials who responded to reports of domestic violence and, as mandated, reported the family to child protective services.
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From page 34... ...
In those cases, it is the presumed or alleged failure of the caregiver to protect the child that drives the designation. For example, the majority of sexual abuse and a notable proportion of serious physical abuse cases involve non-family members as perpetrators (Finkelhor and Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994)
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From page 35... ...
Law enforcement investigations and prosecutions tend to focus on sexual abuse and on serious physical abuse and very serious neglect that have resulted in a child's experiencing physical harm or death (e.g., starvation, inflicted medical trauma)
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From page 36... ...
• Threats of other maltreatment • Terrorizing the child • Administering unprescribed substances • Other/unknown abuse Physical Neglect • efusal to allow or provide needed care for a diagnosed R condition or impairment • nwarranted delay in seeking or failure to seek needed care U • Refusal of custody/abandonment • Other refusal of custody • Illegal transfer of custody • ther or unspecified custody-related maltreatment -- unstable O custody arrangements • Inadequate supervision • Inadequate nutrition • Inadequate personal hygiene • Inadequate clothing • Inadequate shelter • ther/unspecified disregard of child's physical needs and O physical safety
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From page 37... ...
to develop a set of research definitions for neglect that they intend for use in survey research. Likewise, other investigators develop their own study-specific designations.
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From page 38... ...
. Data on the incidence of child abuse and neglect are derived from three primary sources: NCANDS, the official reporting system for cases of child abuse and neglect referred to state child protective services; two U.S.
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From page 39... ...
Nationally, more than three-quarters of these cases are classified as neglect, 18 percent as physical abuse, and 9 percent as sexual abuse. The specific rates vary among states but overall reflect the general pattern that a substantial majority of cases are neglect, with physical and sexual abuse representing much smaller groups.
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From page 40... ...
40 TABLE 2-2 Child Maltreatment Cases/Victims, Rates per Thousand Population Ages 0-17,a by Various Characteristics, 2002-2011 Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total 12.3 12.4 12.0 12.1 12.1 10.6 10.3 9.3 9.3 9.1 Gender Male 11.6 11.6 11.2 11.3 11.4 9.9 9.7 8.8 8.7 8.7 Female 13.1 13.1 12.6 12.7 12.7 11.1 10.8 9.7 9.7 9.6 Age 0-3 16.0 16.4 16.1 16.5 16.8 14.9 14.7 13.6 13.7 14.3 4-7 13.7 13.8 13.4 13.5 13.5 11.5 11.0 9.7 9.7 9.9 8-11 11.9 11.7 10.9 10.9 10.8 9.5 9.2 8.1 8.0 7.7 12-15 10.6 10.7 9.3 10.2 10.2 8.7 8.4 7.6 7.3 7.0 16-17 6.0 5.9 6.1 6.2 6.3 5.4 5.5 5.1 5.0 4.8 Race and Hispanic Origin of Victimb Non-Hispanic white 10.7 11.0 10.7 10.8 10.7 8.3 7.9 7.8 8.1 7.9 Non-Hispanic black 20.2 20.4 19.9 19.5 19.8 15.4 15.4 15.1 14.7 14.3 Hispanic 9.5 9.9 10.4 10.7 10.8 9.2 9.0 8.7 8.6 8.6 Non-Hispanic American Indian or 21.7 21.3 15.5 16.5 15.9 12.4 12.6 11.5 11.3 11.4 Alaska Native Non-Hispanic Asian -- 2.7 2.9 2.5 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.0 1.9 1.7 Non-Hispanic Pacific Islander -- 21.4 17.6 16.1 14.3 11.5 10.7 11.3 9.8 8.5 Multiple races 12.4 12.8 14.6 15.0 15.4 11.8 12.4 12.4 10.0 10.1
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From page 41... ...
Type of Maltreatmentc Neglect 7.2 7.5 7.4 6.3 6.4 6.2 7.4 8.1 7.1 7.2 Physical abuse 2.3 2.3 2.1 1.7 1.6 1.1 1.7 1.8 1.6 1.6 Sexual abuse 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.9 0.9 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.8 Psychological or emotional abuse 0.8 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.8 Medical neglect 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 Other 3.3 3.7 3.2 1.5 1.5 0.4 0.9 -- -- 0.9 aIncludes "substantiated" cases, in which investigation results in a disposition concluding that the allegation of maltreatment or risk of maltreatment was supported or founded according to state law or policy -- the highest level of finding by a state agency. Also includes cases designated "indicated" or "reason to suspect," which are those not substantiated by investigation but for which there is reason to suspect that the child may have been maltreated or was at risk of maltreatment.
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From page 42... ...
For example, rates of endorsement of child sexual abuse in self-report research vary substantially based on how the question is posed. A meta-analysis of studies that used self-report surveys to examine childhood sexual abuse experiences around the world found that differences in the way sexual abuse was defined and the specific questions asked produced dramatically different rates of sexual abuse prevalence (Stoltenborgh et al., 2011)
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From page 43... ...
At the same time, close to half of adolescents in the sample with confirmed child protective services reports failed to note that experience in the interview. The National Incidence Study The NIS is a congressionally mandated report on the incidence of child abuse and neglect that has been issued periodically since 1974 (OPRE, 2009)
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From page 44... ...
Some types of neglect can also be detected through observable behaviors, such as young children found wandering the streets or coming to school unclean or very disheveled. But detection of many cases of physical abuse and neglect and almost all cases of sexual abuse depends largely on children making statements and adults acting on those statements.
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From page 45... ...
. The most common reasons given are concerns that intervention by child protective services will be more harmful than helpful and the professionals' belief that they can do a better job of addressing the suspected child abuse or neglect on their own without involving the authorities.
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From page 46... ...
Disproportionality Concerns have been raised about possible racial and ethnic bias in child abuse and neglect reporting and investigations because African American and American Indian children are referred to child protective services at higher rates than their representation in the population, whereas Asian American and Latino children are referred at lower rates. A recent study used a birth cohort methodology and linked vital statistics and child abuse report records for young children (Putnam-Hornstein, 2011)
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From page 47... ...
Nationally, more than three-quarters of these cases are classified as ne glect, 18 percent as physical abuse, and 9 percent as sexual abuse. The highest rates of child abuse and neglect occur among young children, specifically those less than 3 years old.
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From page 48... ...
Finding: African American and American Indian children are referred to child protective services at disproportionate rates relative to their representation in the general population. INCIDENCE TRENDS Questions about whether child abuse and neglect are increasing, decreasing, or being detected and reported more often have become prominent in recent years.
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From page 49... ...
. The decrease for physical abuse began somewhat later than that for sexual abuse but has followed the same slope, with steep declines in the late 1990s that tapered off by 2009.
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From page 50... ...
In part, this is due to the fact that retrospective self-report surveys are poorly suited to gathering information about neglect involving very young children, which is the most frequent form of child abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment–related fatalities include deaths caused by both physical abuse and neglect, with a majority being attributed to neglect.
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From page 51... ...
It is worth noting that the declines in child sexual abuse began about the same time as general declines in crime and have followed a similar slope. Physical abuse presents a more complicated picture, with some official sources showing overall declines and several surveys not showing declines.
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From page 52... ...
And as mentioned, two separate investigations failed to find a relationship between unemployment rates and child abuse and neglect reports. A better understanding is needed of whether and why rates of physical and sexual abuse are declining while no change in neglect is being observed.
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From page 53... ...
Finding: Understanding is incomplete with respect to whether and why rates of physical and sexual abuse are declining while no change in neglect is being observed. Research on these trends has received in adequate attention given their important implications for intervention and prevention efforts.
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From page 54... ...
For example, questions have been raised about certain medical diagnoses, such as shaken baby syndrome, which as noted, is now called abusive head trauma. In some cases, child abuse experts have concluded that intentional injury has occurred, but other medical professionals have attributed the injuries to causes such as brittle bones or vitamin deficiencies.
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From page 55... ...
The second is that citizens, judges, and juries assume that medical findings will be present in sexual abuse cases, even though this frequently is not the case. Child protection and criminal legal professionals believe it is often necessary to have a medical exam and expert medical testimony primarily to counter this widespread misconception.
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From page 56... ...
Typically in these situations, mental health providers consider a range of information, including what the child says in an interview, what the child has told others, the circumstances of the discovery of abuse concerns, results of medical examinations, and the emotional and behavioral functioning of the child based on a psychosocial assessment or administration of a standardized checklist of tests. The degree of thoroughness and the formality of the process depend largely on the purpose the opinion will serve.
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From page 57... ...
If it does, the official legal determination is made by civil or criminal court. Child protective services usually is responsible for investigating civil dependency cases; such cases are screened in by the child welfare system, and they fall under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
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From page 58... ...
. A key activity in many child abuse and neglect dependency and criminal investigations, especially in cases involving sexual abuse and some involving physical abuse, is interviewing the child.
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From page 59... ...
The large majority of both civil and criminal proceedings regarding child abuse and neglect do not progress to a formal fact-finding hearing or a trial. In many child protection cases, usually those not requiring a court order to remove a child from home against parental wishes, no formal legal process is even initiated; the family agrees to a voluntary service plan that is overseen by the state.
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From page 60... ...
In terms of access to needed services, what happens officially in a case is unrelated to receipt of services in the child welfare system. The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a large longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of cases reported to child protective services, produced illustrative results.
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From page 61... ...
Cases of child abuse and neglect are referred to child protective services based on mandatory reports by professionals such as teachers, law enforcement officials, social service providers, and physicians, as well as good-faith reports by citizens. Not all cases of child abuse and neglect are reported, and standards for reasonable suspicion of abuse and neglect are not always clearcut.
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From page 62... ...
Available trend data provide strong evidence that sexual abuse has declined substantially in the past two decades; the balance of evidence favors a decline in physical abuse, especially its more common and less serious forms. There is no evidence that neglect is declining overall.
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From page 63... ...
2005. Police involvement in child protective services investigations: Literature review and secondary data analysis.
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From page 64... ...
2012. Have sexual abuse and physical abuse declined since the 1990s?
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From page 65... ...
2007. Improving credibility assessment in child sexual abuse allegations: The role of the NICHD investigative interview protocol.
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From page 66... ...
2013. Racial and ethnic disparities: A population-based examination of risk factors for involvement with child protective services.
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From page 67... ...
2011. A global perspective on child sexual abuse: Meta-analysis of prevalence around the world.
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