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The Extent and Consequences of Child Maltreatment
Abstract
Specific, accurate understanding of the extent of maltreatment in American society, the nature of the maltreatment that occurs, and the consequences it has for children are crucial to inform policies regarding child protection and to guide the design of prevention and treatment programs. This article examines how child abuse and neglect are defined and discusses the controversies that surround that definition, which attracts attention because it justifies government intervention to stop actions by parents or caregivers that seriously harm children. The article also presents statistics indicating how widespread maltreatment is, reviews research on the characteristics of families that are more prone to abuse or neglect, and summarizes knowledge about the impact of maltreatment on children. Finally, it mentions the efforts of public child protective services agencies to responsibly ration calls on their limited resources by using risk-assessment approaches to target scarce services to the children who need them the most.
... Galupovo istra`ivanje (ispitano je 1.000 roditelja) iz 1995. iznosi da je 44 od 1.000 dece u SAD fizi~ki zlostavljano od roditelja, {to je 16 puta vi{e od podataka koje iznose slu`be za za{titu dece (English, 1998). Podaci o incidenciji tako|e nisu ujedna~eni i kre}u se od 3,5/1.000 ...
... Za razliku od drugih formi zlostavljanja studije prevalencije neglekta gotovo i da nisu ra|ene, mo`da i zato jer se ova pojava do`ivljava kao jasno vidljiva. Podaci o ra{irenosti bez dvomljenja ukazuju da zanemarivanje obuhvata izme|u 45% i 50% prijavljenih slu~ajeva u SAD (NCCAN, 1993;English, 1998), odnosno 42% u Velikoj Britaniji (Corby, 2000.). Izme|u 40% i 53% prijavljenih slu~ajeva zlostavljanja odba~eno je posle po~etne procene socijalnih slu`bi, koje svoje akcije kreiraju prema zakonskim i stru~nim definicijama, ali i prema raspolo`ivim resursima. ...
... Zloupotreba alkohola, droga i psihoaktivnih supstanci je u zna~ajnoj meri povezana sa pojavom zlostavljanja i zanemrivanja dece (English, 1998;Iwanec, 1995;Chasnoff & Lowder, 1999). Smatra se da u SAD izme|u 50% i 80% porodica kod kojih interveni{u slu`be za za{titu dece imaju probleme povezane sa zloupotrebom psihoaktivnih supstanci. ...
Baza znanja o fizi~kom, seksualnom, emocionalnom zlostavljanju i zanemarivanju
dece svakodnevno se pro{iruje. Izvori saznanja uklju~uju raznovrsne nau~ne i profesionalne
discipline: socijalni rad, medicinu, istoriju, sociologiju, psihologiju, socijalnu politiku
i filozofiju.Knjiga predstavlja kriti~ki pregled teorijskih i prakti~nih aspekata pojave
zlostavljanja, radi unapre|enja znanja o pojavi, problemima, mogu}nostima i potrebama
dru{tvene intervencije u za{titi dece od zlostavljanja i zanemarivanja.Namenjena je profesionalcima
prvenstveno u socijalnoj za{titi, ali i u zdravstvu, obrazovanju, pravosu|u i
svima koji rade sa decom. Rezultati istra`ivanja aktuelnog rada socijalnih slu`bi predstavljaju
po~etni napor zasnivanja prakse koja se oslanja na istra`ene ~injenice o pojavi i
proverene delotvorne na~ine i nivoe intervenisanja u `ivot porodice i dece.
U knjizi su predstavljani rezultati istra`ivanja ~iji je predmet odre|en kao pregled
i definisanje teorijsko-metodolo{kih i prakti~nih pretpostavki za zasnivanje efikasnog
modela za{tite dece od zlostavljanja i zanemarivanja na prostorima Srbije.
... However, these variations in the estimation of prevalence may be influenced by the varied definition, characteristics of participants and methodologies (Feng, Chang, Chang, Fetzer, & Wang, 2015). Although there is deviation in prevalence estimations among studies, impact studies have in most cases emphasized mental health conditions, in particular child behavioural problems maltreated children (English, 1998;McCrory et al., 2011;Norman et al., 2012). Literature on the aftermath of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) documented that maltreated children predominantly exhibit traumatic internalizing disorders such as depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorders, social anxiety, attachment disorders, panic attacks (Brown et al., 2018;Chapman et al., 2004;Levey, Apter, & Harrison, 2017) and external disorders including substance disorders, personality disorders, conduct behaviour, sleep disorders, and eating disorders (English, 1998;Levey et al., 2017). ...
... Although there is deviation in prevalence estimations among studies, impact studies have in most cases emphasized mental health conditions, in particular child behavioural problems maltreated children (English, 1998;McCrory et al., 2011;Norman et al., 2012). Literature on the aftermath of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) documented that maltreated children predominantly exhibit traumatic internalizing disorders such as depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorders, social anxiety, attachment disorders, panic attacks (Brown et al., 2018;Chapman et al., 2004;Levey, Apter, & Harrison, 2017) and external disorders including substance disorders, personality disorders, conduct behaviour, sleep disorders, and eating disorders (English, 1998;Levey et al., 2017). This pervasive evidence of CM underscore the need for systematic studies to reduce the impact and guide the necessary interventions and policy. ...
Background
Child maltreatment is a global health concern, which adversely affects millions of children. Among them, child laborers are highly susceptible to maltreatment due to their economic vulnerability and workplace practices.
Objectives
This review seeks to identify the extent, risk factors and psychological impairments associated with the maltreatment of child laborers in four South East Asian countries.
Methods
A scoping review was adopted, in accordance with the PRISMA framework. Scopus, Medline, PsycINFO, ProQuest, Web of Sciences, and grey literature from relevant institutional websites were searched. Search date parameters were 1960–2020. A thematic synthesis and a proportion test were adopted to analyse data.
Results
A total of 9 studies were retrieved. The physical maltreatment against child laborers (15.14 %) was found across all studies with high heterogeneity (from 2.3%–73.27%). The prevalence of emotional maltreatment was more than three times that of physical abuse. Sexual abuse rate was measured (16.82 %) followed by neglect against child laborers (12.9 %). Witness victimization, financial exploitation, forced work, and work intensification were also observed as notable forms of maltreatment. A thematic analysis suggests that the victims and caregivers’ characteristics and socio-cultural practices are strong predictors of maltreatment. Parental dysfunctions were also associated with rates of child labor victimization followed by poverty. The review found maltreated children were often traumatized and manifest specific phobias (38.79 %), social phobias (30.2 %), conduct disorders (20.6 %), and obsessions (18.21 %), which are significantly associated (p < 0.05) across studies.
Conclusions
While the methodical study base is limited, the results of this review can inform further research on violence against child laborers.
... One of the most-cited risk factors is a history of childhood abuse that occurred prior to CSE victimizations and can include sexual, physical, and emotional abuse experienced by a person under the age of 18. Childhood sexual abuse has been found to be the most prevalent risk factor in studies examining sexual exploitation of youth (Choi, 2015) and includes any acts in which children are used for sexual gratification, such as sexual molestation, rape, and sexual exploitation (English, 1998). Nonetheless, child physical abuse (Cobbina & Oselin, 2011;Warf et al., 2013) and child emotional abuse are also frequently associated with trafficking (Estes & Weiner, 2005;Loza et al., 2010;Roe-Sepowitz, 2012;Saewyc & Edinburgh, 2010;Stoltz et al., 2007). ...
... Nonetheless, child physical abuse (Cobbina & Oselin, 2011;Warf et al., 2013) and child emotional abuse are also frequently associated with trafficking (Estes & Weiner, 2005;Loza et al., 2010;Roe-Sepowitz, 2012;Saewyc & Edinburgh, 2010;Stoltz et al., 2007). Physical abuse is any act resulting in physical harm such as kicking, stabbing, or punching a child and examples of emotional abuse are verbal abuse or other acts encompassing the rejection, isolation, terrorization, ignorance, or corruption of a child (English, 1998). Myriads of other prior victimizations are also important though less explored in the literature, such as witnessed family violence (Cimino et al., 2017;Naramore, Bright, Epps, & Hardt, 2017;Reid, Baglivio, Piquero, Greenwald, & Epps, 2017), partner sexual coercion (Tyler, 2009), dating violence victimization (Patton et al., 2014), robbery and assault (Greene, Ennett, & Ringwalt, 1999), or a combination of adverse childhood experiences (Reid et al., 2017). ...
Scholars and practitioners have drawn attention to the issue of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of minors, yet we continue to lack a clear understanding of which factors increase a minor's risk to this type of victimization. The current article reviews the literature about the impact of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse on the risk of CSE. The study utilizes quantitative meta-analytical techniques to estimate an overall impact of prior abuse. Nineteen studies were selected after a comprehensive search of electronic databases covering the fields of social science, criminology, psychology, or related fields. To be included in the analyses, all articles had to measure the direct impact of sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse on minor's risk to CSE, utilizing multivariate techniques and presenting statistical metrics to assess the impact of prior abuse. Key findings demonstrate that sexual abuse considerably increases the risk of exploitation, especially among female youth in the United States. Physical and emotional abuse show negligible or no significant independent impacts, even though a few studies have begun to suggest that experiencing multiple types of childhood abuse may aggravate a risk of sexual exploitation. Our findings can guide further research on the impact of prior victimizations and inform screening instruments that are being developed to identify youth at risk of CSE.
... Pointed English (1998) to be aggressive, anxiety and depression of personal and behavioral characteristics that distinguish aggressive parents, and also inaccurate knowledge of child development and the negative attitudes towards parenting contributes to child-rearing problems [13] . 3-A history of abuse: Dunkle has pointed (2004) that the experience of violence in childhood, especially sexual violence, has been identified as a risk factor, particularly the risk of exposure to violence on the stage of adulthood. ...
... 1. Environmental factors include poverty is a factor of risk factors, physical The attack is more common among people who are poorer and neglect [23] 2-unemployment pointed English (1998) that unemployment may lead to a rise in tension when the family leading to child abuse. 3-collective violence pointed CDC (2006) that the rampant violence in the community has consistently generated an environment in which violence against children is acceptable [24] METHODOLOGY THE STUDY SAMPLE: ...
... has been revealed that abusive mothers establish less supportive relationships with their children (Burgess & Conger, 1978), [19] active with their children than non-abusive mothers (Schindler &Arkowitz, 1986) [21]. Although incidences of child maltreatment and neglect are common in families of any economic status, it is however seen that low parental income is a major influencing factor and that children from poor families are more likely to experience neglect and severe violence than children from high income families (English, 1998). [22] Another factor that increases the risk of child maltreatment concerns the parental relationship. ...
... Although incidences of child maltreatment and neglect are common in families of any economic status, it is however seen that low parental income is a major influencing factor and that children from poor families are more likely to experience neglect and severe violence than children from high income families (English, 1998). [22] Another factor that increases the risk of child maltreatment concerns the parental relationship. Ross (1996) [16] has determined that violence between parents can increase the probability of child maltreatment at the hands of the aggressive parent, and in addition, that with increasing marital violence, male parents show more inclination toward child maltreatment than female parents. ...
PURPOSE: Socio-demographic factors such as gender, age, residence, parental marital status, parental education level, family monthly income and number of children in family under 18 play an important role in people’s day to day lives and especially in the maltreatment of children. The present study identifies these seven socio-demographic factors, which are hypothesized to influence maltreatment of children through three dimensions (1) What kind of abuse did you suffer from as a child? (2) Who abused you? (3) Who abused you more? METHODS: Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis along with path diagrams are used to extract children’s maltreatment from the factors and Structural Equation Modeling is run to verify the above factor structure and evaluate the influence of predictors on child maltreatment. FINDINGS: The corresponding beta (β) coefficient in the regression equation shows that education and gender are statistically the predictors of child maltreatment at 5% level of significance and affect it through two dimensions (except Who abused you more?). CONCLUSION: Women are more likely to treat their children badly. People with better education are found to enact maltreatment of children. Other socio-demographic factors are not statistically significant in terms of impacting child maltreatment.
... However, recent decades have seen growing efforts to prevent child maltreatment. New public policies and expanded service programmes have been developed, based on a modern understanding of prevalence rates and the consequences of child maltreatment (English, 1998). This understanding relies on generally accepted definitions of child maltreatment (English, 1998). ...
... New public policies and expanded service programmes have been developed, based on a modern understanding of prevalence rates and the consequences of child maltreatment (English, 1998). This understanding relies on generally accepted definitions of child maltreatment (English, 1998). Estimates of child maltreatment rates and severity depend on how these definitions of child maltreatment are operationalized. ...
... • Socialization / Internalization: Social Psychology: focus on how parents (and society more generally) get children to accept their values and beliefs as the child's own • Discipline/punishment/control of children: Psychology/Sociology: focus of childrearing is parental control of children rather than responsibility and respect; equates discipline with punishment; compares which type of punishment-e.g., spanking, guilt, love withdrawal, i.e., emotional-physical violence, is best for securing obedience, compliance and control per se • Child Development: Psychology/Education: focus on stages of biological, intellectual and moral development of infants and children; development is conceptualized as linear as children are seen as mentally and morally inferior to adults; interest in children primarily as adults in the making • Child Threats: Clinical Psychology/Criminology: focus on working class, poor and minority children; children who challenge adults • Child Victims: focus on victimization to push traditional adult agendas---children as "victims" of working mothers and daycare; children as victims of "urban homelessness" or "HIV-AIDS," or other issues where adults are the primary beneficiaries of this attention Moreover, when violence against children is studied, the researchers, practitioners and policymakers who are steeped in traditional perspectives, tend to focus only on the rare cases of child maltreatment that are actually reported, investigated and substantiated by official agencies. The number of official cases grossly underestimates the true extent of child abuse and neglect as shown by self-report surveys (English, 1998;Scher et al, 2004). As Prinz et al (2009: 1) state: "The official rates of substantiated CM, and even the referral rates for alleged maltreatment, likely represent only the tip of the iceberg in terms of parenting problems and child adversity…. ...
... Globally, the majority of parents have yelled or screamed at their child in the past 6 months (Krug et al, 2002); while rates of the more severe forms of emotional abuse, at least in the US range from 10-15% (Dong et al 2004;Scher et al, 2004); • Child Sexual Abuse: Rates for child sexual abuse vary globally. Depending on the severity of the abuse, estimates vary substantially, but on average, child sexual abuse for girls ranges from 20-25% and for boys 5-10% (Krug et al, 2002;Pinhero 2006); • Child Maltreatment: In the US alone, while approximately three million children are reported to official agencies for severe maltreatment in any given year (English, 1998), data from nationally representative studies show that at least 35% of adults in the US have experienced one or more forms of child abuse-maltreatment ( ...
Interdisciplinarity at its core involves epistemologically reconceptualizing a problem and challenging discipline/s within which the problem is embedded. This paper attempts to show how research on child maltreatment within disciplines can be integrated within the context of new paradigm that epistemologically challenges the prevailing traditional paradigm within individual disciplines and reconceptualizes the problem of child maltreatment, leading to new insights on child maltreatment and how to prevent it. To do so, we draw on a newly emerging model of children and child-adult relationships, adultism (child-centered, child rights) conceptualizing research and policy within the context of the social inequality and the oppression of children, where children are denied human rights and are disproportionately victims of maltreatment and exploitation. This stands in contrast to the degree to which individual disciplines within the social sciences, physical sciences, medical fields, and applied sciences and professions are steeped epistemologically in adult-centered (colonial, parent rights) perspectives which conceptualizes children within the context of adult agendas of obedience and inferiority, at best a paternalistic view of child-caring vs. child rights. In turn, this allows us to see how much of the prior research (or lack of) and policy of different disciplines has supported the maintenance of the oppression of children most generally and child maltreatment specifically. In contrast, the new model of children and child-adult relationships, adultism, allows us, in a truly interdisciplinary way, to epistemologically reconceptualize violence against children and challenge the assumptions about children embedded in individual disciplines. This leads to an unmasking of the oppression of children, violence against children and thereby holds the hope for policies to prevent it. © Common Ground, Lucien Lombardo, Karen A. Polonko, All Rights Reserved.
... From the vantage point of neglect in a broad sense, I will zoom in on three more specific aspects of this phenomenon, namely, the failure of direct supervisors to identify staff's needs and make use of staff's competencies, supervisors' failure to make performance demands, and their failure to set limits and impose standards in daily organizational life. Numerous scholars have shown that chronic neglect is more harmful than abuse (Baumrind, 1991;English, 1998;Smith and Fong, 2004;McSherry, 2007). If the impact of neglect on adults is comparable to its effect on children, neglect in the workplace will ultimately manifest itself in staff's behavior. ...
... The concept of neglect in the workplace is akin to theories about the cause and effect of irrational leadership (Kets de Vries, 1999), destructive leadership (Tepper, 2007a(Tepper, , 2007b and the 'dark side of organizations' (Vaughn, 1996). Based on child development literature, I would venture to say that the absence of guidance to foster development is probably more detrimental than intentionally destructive leadership (see English, 1998;Kaplan et al., 1999). As a concept, neglect in the workplace is a particular perspective on reality in organizations. ...
Emotional Abuse and Neglect in the Workplace tackles the big questions: How does emotional neglect of employees affect an organization? How can management effectively manage while restoring an organization's health? When trust is gone, only reliable behavior by senior managers can help - and this takes time. The author explores striking similarities between the symptoms of ailing organizations and abusive or neglectful families. This book explores not only a new theory of neglected organizations, but also a set of methods enabling OD practitioners to restore employees' trust. It also provides diagnostic tools and guidelines for change agents who confront organizational neglect head-on and includes case studies and real-life experiences of OD practitioners.
... One proposed framework to characterize maltreatment and other forms of adversity is the dimensional model of adversity and psychopathology (DMAP;McLaughlin et al., 2014; which classifies exposures along dimensions of threat (e.g., abuse) and deprivation (e.g., neglect). Similarly, we acknowledge the value of prior approaches that consider maltreatment from the perspective of omission, or lack of expected environmental input, and commission, or the presence of harmful input (English, 1998;Humphreys & Zeanah, 2015). Alternative approaches to grouping types of maltreatment are supported by a recent meta-analysis of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein et al., 1994Bernstein et al., , 2003 that specifically assessed the relationship between subtypes of child maltreatment and subsequent depression . ...
Although it is accepted that experiences of child maltreatment are multidimensional and often include several correlated but distinct experiences, many clinical and research decisions regarding exposure and treatment do not consider their potential overlap or potential independence. The purpose of this meta-analysis-using a single retrospective self-report measure, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), in population-representative samples-was to investigate the magnitude and specificity of associations between forms of child maltreatment. A systematic review of studies available on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar was conducted, resulting in the inclusion of nine journal articles, 11 independent samples, and 25,415 participants. Data were converted from Pearson correlations to Z statistics and pooled using a random effects model. All maltreatment types were positively and significantly associated. Effect sizes varied from medium to large, with (1) physical abuse and emotional abuse (Z = 0.72, 95% CI [.48, .96]), (2) physical neglect and emotional neglect (Z = 0.62, 95% CI [.43, .81]), and (3) emotional abuse and emotional neglect (Z = 0.54, 95% CI [.35, .72]) demonstrating the strongest associations. These analyses provide evidence of the associations between types of child maltreatment, indicate the likelihood of shared risk, and point to characteristics that may link different types of maltreatment. These findings have important clinical implications as they may help guide comprehensive screening for associated maltreatment types as well as intervention and prevention efforts. Limitations include the relatively few studies included and those associated with the CTQ-a retrospective, self-report measure that does not account for the concurrence of experiences.
... Children from abusive and neglectful families grow up in environments that fail to provide consistent and appropriate opportunities that contribute to child's development, instead they expose the child to physical and emotional harm (Wolfe & Jaffe, 1991). There are various personal characteristics that act as buffer in reducing the negative impact of child abuse and neglect, namely, optimism, high self-esteem, high cognitive ability, or a sense of hopefulness despite their circumstances (English, 1998). ...
A child's emotional and behavioral reactions are strongly determined by his interactions with his parents. This case report aims to highlight the impact of physical abuse and neglect by the mother on the behavioral and emotional reactions of a child, conceptualizing the case, and planning intervention in the case of a 9-year-old male child referred to Child Guidance Clinic of IHBAS for the purpose of Behavioral Management. Evaluation of the case revealed history of physical abuse and neglect by his mother which contributed to his negative attitude towards a mother figure as well as his behavioral and emotional difficulties. The case report focuses on the use of a therapeutic intervention named Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and parents counseling. Intervention with the child focused upon various areas such as unresolved negative emotions, negative attitude towards the mother figure, low self-esteem including improving the quality of interaction with parents and significant others. Parent Child Interaction Therapy is a relatively new therapeutic medium that has been a recent development in the field of psychotherapy and has proven to be effective in the treatment and management of childhood disorders. The current report also focuses on the child' experience of parental neglect and abuse. These experiences have also been dealt with in a sensitive manner with the client through Parent child interaction therapy. The new development is a promising therapeutic approach in treating and managing cases of behavioral as well as emotional problems, especially rooted in disturbed family dynamics and abusive interpersonal patterns in childhood.
... Negative consequences of CPSWs working in taxing work contexts not only affect them (depression, burnout and compassion fatigue, see - Baugerud et al., 2018;Griffiths et al., 2018;McFadden et al., 2015;Truter & Fouché, 2019), but also their clients, since re-victimization of abused children is likely when CPSWs become unavailable or less efficient (Alpaslan & Shenck, 2012;Bhana & Haffejee, 1996;Schiller, 2017;Truter & Fouché, 2019), resulting in long term devastating consequences for children in terms of their own development (English, 1998;WHO, 2020) -ultimately affecting the trajectory of their lives. Sadly, child fatalities might also follow (Douglas, 2013;Horwitz, 1998). ...
CPSWs¹ perform critical duties focused on the statutory protection of maltreated children or children at risk of maltreatment. Although some studies on CPSW risks are available, to date, only two (outdated) knowledge syntheses, with some limitations, were recorded. As such, a scoping review based on the framework of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) was conducted to summarize existing studies on CPSW risks and to identify gaps in research associated with risks experienced by CPSWs. Online databases were used to identify papers published between 1990 and April 2020. A total of 47 peer-reviewed studies were included, and analysed thematically within the socio-ecological model. Most studies found that CPSWs experience adversity on an institutional level. Developed themes include: (1) intrapersonal level risks (specific adverse personality traits; being ill-prepared for the job and a personal history of maltreatment); (2) interpersonal level risks (unsupportive colleagues; client attacks on CPSWs, and challenging clients); (3) institutional level risks (discouraging workspaces; detrimental workplace duties and work pressure); (4) community level risks (negative public image of CPSWs; unrealistic expectations placed on CPSWs; uncooperative role players) and (5) policy level risk factors. The subsequent negative impact on CPSWs, CPSW organizations and society are also deliberated. Based on the findings of this review, further empirical research, specifically qualitative studies which explore the lived experiences of CPSWs’ risk need to be conducted to better understand the situation of CPSWs, so as to develop interventions that could reduce risk exposure, potentially leading to more effective service delivery.
... Thus, disturbances in caregiving, as through engagement in harsh parenting or maltreatment, can disrupt normal regulation of this neuroendocrine system (Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007). While the construct of child maltreatment broadly indicates adverse experiences with caregivers, a common distinction is made between abuse and neglect (English, 1998). Abuse tends to involve repeated exposures to threatening behaviours perpetrated towards the child (Barnett et al., 1993), whereas neglect reflects lack of necessary care from the primary caregiver, including failure to adequately meet the child's physical and/or emotional needs (Hildyard & Wolfe, 2002). ...
This article reviews the evidence for theoretical models postulating that early adversity can set in motion a deleterious developmental cascade, involving changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity that subsequently affect the development of self-regulation in early childhood. Focusing on the first five years of life, we describe studies showing that experiences of severe deprivation or maltreatment may both lead to a hypoactive HPA axis in children. However, it is too early yet to conclude what effects exposure to adverse conditions such as poverty or family instability have on young children’s HPA axis, with both low and high levels of cortisol having been observed under these circumstances. Both patterns of HPA axis dysregulation have been associated with impairments in executive functions, which are important for self-regulation. There is promising evidence that interventions targeting parenting behaviour have the potential to remediate adversity-related biological and behavioural alterations.
... English J. D (1998) 21 reviewed on the extent and consequences of child maltreatment. The article depicted the specific, accurate understanding of the extent ofmaltreatment in American society. ...
... Childhood SES is one of the most consistent socio-environmental predictors of contact with the criminal justice system. Indeed, childhood SES has recently been classified as a fundamental cause of offending (Barkan & Rocque, 2018) because studies have shown that low childhood SES is associated with numerous risk factors, such as toxic stress (English, 1998;Mersky & Reynolds, 2007), improper parenting (Bornstein & Bradley, 2012), poor neighborhood conditions (Anderson, 1999;Sampson, 2013), contact with delinquent peers (Akers, 1988;Fergusson & Horwood, 1999;Heimer, 1997), and low levels of attachment to family and school (Hay, Fortson, Hollist, Altheimer, & Schaible, 2006). Each of these risk factors is known to predict involvement with the criminal justice system, so it is reasonable to think childhood SES could moderate the relationship between genetic propensity for aggressive behavior and incarceration risk. ...
... 65). Past research has already shown that parental ideas determine parental practices (Miguel, Valentim & Carugati, 2009), which, along with parental styles, significantly impact child outcomes and behaviours (Clémence, 2007;Cohen & Rice, 1997;Demo & Cox, 2000;English, 1998;Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991;Rossman & Rea, 2005, Steinberg, 2001. ...
We aimed to explore Romanian parents’ and kindergarten teachers’ social representations of the development of intelligence in children, how they vary across the three social groups (mothers, fathers and kindergarten teachers) and potential connections between parents’ social representations of this phenomenon and their choices of kindergarten teachers for their children. The first study was conducted on 120 participants - 40 mothers of kindergarten pupils, 40 fathers and, respectively, 40 kindergarten teachers. Results have shown that their social representations of the development of intelligence in children were comprised of four core elements: parental support, school, good results and individual study, and that these representations varied according to the social role of the participants, in line with previous research (e.g. Miguel, Valentim, & Carugati, 2010, 2012, 2013).Our second study was conducted on 241 participants which represented the parents of the kindergarten pupils enrolled in 12 groups and their respective kindergarten teachers. For six of the groups, the parents had the opportunity to choose the group in which their children were enrolled, as the kindergartens had two groups for that educational level, while for the other six, parents did not have the possibility to make this choice due to the fact that there was only one group per level in those respective kindergartens. Results have shown that in the condition choice, parents’ social representations converged more with the teachers’. The findings of this research are discussed in the light of their contribution to the field of social representations of intelligence.
... Por otro lado, ha sido ampliamente documentado el efecto negativo de las experiencias traumáticas en la infancia en la salud mental, como abuso sexual y maltrato físico, describiéndose una mayor propensión a padecer sintomatología depresiva en quienes las han vivido, tanto en estudios nacionales como internacionales (English, 1998;Nelson et al., 2002;Olhaberry et al. 2014). Más aún, la evidencia demuestra que las mujeres que reportan haber tenido experiencias traumáticas en la infancia tienden a reportar mayores niveles de depresión que los hombres con vivencias semejantes (Weiss, Longhurst & Mazure, 1999). ...
La alta frecuencia de los trastornos depresivos en el mundo y las altas tasas reportadas durante el pre y postparto, alertan sobre la necesidad de profundizar en la comprensión de la depresión materna perinatal y sus repercusiones psicológicas en la madre y el niño/a. Se describen y analizan sus características, los factores protectores y de riesgo, los principales efectos en el vínculo madre-bebé, el desarrollo infantil y la identidad materna a partir de una revisión de la literatura existente. Se reflexiona también sobre las implicancias clínicas de este trastorno, las alternativas de tratamiento y los desafíos actuales para su abordaje psicoterapéutico integral, considerando los distintos aspectos de la matriz relacional de la díada madre-hijo/a en interacción.
... In fact, lack of support and perceived stress from the surroundings were the main contributing factors that lead to abuse cases. Despite that, the variety of characteristics of child's parents and caregivers, i.e., aggressiveness, depression, anxiety, are another factor that contributes to an increased likelihood of child abuse (English, 1998). Indeed, the participants develop the aggressive and depression personality but manage to overcome the negativity in themselves due to intrinsic motivation. ...
The abuse cases, especially among children, has been enormously reported and in fact,
abundant of the research has been conducted to identify the effects towards the abuse
survivors. Thus, this study had taken the new approach by investigating the causes of abuse from the perspective of the survivors itself, as well as including the coping mechanisms practice by them. The highlight of this study is the real experiences of the survivors regarding on the abuse incidents during childhood. Thus, the interviews were carried out with two female participants from a different country, which are Indonesia and Malaysia. The result strongly endorses that the personality development has strongly influenced by the coping mechanisms utilized by them.
... English (1998) found that children involved in child welfare services often had health problems that required varying assessments and treatments. It is important for children who are victims of maltreatment to receive (mental health) services that are appropriate and delivered in a timely manner, especially considering the effects that maltreatment may have on their development over time (English, 1998). Bai and colleagues (2009) suggest that policy makers should begin to develop policies that support the coordination between child welfare and ancillary agencies, such as mental health agencies. ...
Cette recherche qualitative vise une description du contenu des signalements retenus à la protection de la jeunesse ainsi que de leur évaluation à partir des dossiers de 48 situations d’enfants issus de la diversité ethnoculturelle. Ces dossiers ont été sélectionnés par 24 intervenants de la protection de la jeunesse. Les résultats sont organisés selon des thèmes qui suivent de près les critères légaux considérés dans la prise de décision. Un deuxième niveau d’analyse permet de faire ressortir les contenus ethnoculturels ou migratoires dispersés dans les sections narratives et descriptives des dossiers. Par la suite, chaque situation est observée et décrite afin de regrouper des profils familiaux similaires. De cet exercice ressortent quatre portraits familiaux distincts : les familles traversant une crise, les familles qui abdiquent leur rôle parental, les familles isolées et les familles éclatées.
... La violence a des effets sur l'estime de soi des adolescents victimes, elle est associée à une estime de soi déformée ou extrêmement négative qui s'acquiert dès l'enfance et persiste toute la vie. Les implications de la violence sur le développement de l'enfant ou l'adolescent dépendent de plusieurs facteurs associés à l'enfant ou à l'adolescent (étapes du développement, vulnérabilité, etc.) ou aux caractéristiques de la forme de la violence ellemême (sévérité, durée, intensité, etc.) (Chamberland, C. & Clément, 2009 ;English, 1998 ;Gershoff, 2002 (Suheir, 1992 ;Youssef, 1990), Des études concernant la violence familiale, ont montré des effets sur la santé mentale des victimes de violence, incluant des problèmes se rapportant plutôt à l'agressivité, à l'hyperactivité, à la dépression, à l'anxiété, à la détresse émotionnelle et le besoin d'être rassurés, à les idéations suicidaires et à l'estime de soi (Carlson, 1991 ;Fortin et Cyr, 1998 ;Jimenez, Saucier, Marleau, Murphy, Ciampi, Côté, et Tong, 1999). D'autres recherches ont montré que les victimes de violences familiales ont une santé émotionnelle plus faible, une vie plus triste et bien sûr une faible estime de soi (Ericksen et Henderson , 1992 ;Henning, Leitenberg, Coffey, Bennet et Jankowski, 1997 ;Henning, Leitenberg, Coffey, Turner et Bennet, 1996 ;Hughes et Barad, 1983). ...
L'objectif principal de cette thèse est déterminé si des adolescents ayant subi une expérience de violence se différencient de ceux qui ne l'ont jamais subi dans un contexte interculturel franc-syrienne, au niveau d'estime de soi. Pour ce faire,deux groupes de 300 adolescents âgés de 14 à 19 ans ont participé à cette thèse. Le groupe syrien est composé de 150adolescents qui vivent à Damas, quant au groupe français est composé de 150 adolescents qui vivent en Île-de-France.Les données ont été récoltées à l'aide du questionnaire de définition des formes de violence subie (sexuelle, physique et psychologique) et de l'échelle toulousaine d'estime de soi. Trois hypothèses est formulées pour traiter les données statiquement. La première montre que le niveau de violence subie est plus répandu chez le groupe syrien. La seconde s'avère que le groupe français obtient un niveau d'estime de soi plus élevé que le groupe syrien. La troisième trouve une relation négative entre la violence subie et l'estime de soi. Enfin, il semble ainsi que la violence subie fait mauvais effet sur l'estime de soi et tous ses aspects qui représentent des déterminants importants au niveau de la santé psychique des adolescents.
... In other studies it has been revealed that strict mothers establish less supportive relationships with their children [30], are more aggressive during verbal or nonverbal interactions with their children [31], and are less active with their children [32] than non-abusive mothers. Although incidences of child abuse and neglect are common in families whatever their economic status, it is, however, seen that low income of parents is a major influencing factor, and children from poor families are more likely to experience neglect and severe violence than children from high income families [33,34]. ...
Background: Low self-esteem originating in childhood often has a negative effect throughout a person’s life. Someone’s self-esteem is primarily a result of how he is treated by his parents, with influences also from school and the workplace. This study gathers information from a group of children in Assuit Governorate provinces in Egypt about their experiences of abuse and their responses with regard to their self-esteem.
Methods: The study used a 23-item questionnaire with both open-ended and closed-ended questions, presented in a face-to-face situation with 1,751 children aged 10-12 years. Most of the items were structured as per the Likert scale of 1 to 5. Amos software was used, along with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with path diagram models. A GIS (geographic information system) approach was used for mapping and plotting the outcomes of the research.
Results: Punishment, ill-treatment and lack of warmth and praise for children seem to be the main reasons for low self-esteem amongst children in the area of study. The gender of the child has no significant effect as regards the means of discipline, whereas the marital status and education of the parents does have an effect.
Conclusions: Educating and disciplining children is not an easy task, and parents need to receive good guidance in this area, with a focus on instilling positive behavior in children and an awareness of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behavior, in order to prevent them from behaving in unacceptable ways.
... While the prevalence of child maltreatment (both physical and sexual abuse) in South Africa is not established, indications are that the rates are high (Dawes andWard 2008, Jewkes et al. 2002). Maltreatment is associated with negative psychological outcomes during childhood, particularly when chronic (English 1998). As demonstrated by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) studies, the effects persist into adulthood (Felitti et al. 1998, Chapman et al. 2004. ...
... They have to bear the greatest burden in responding to reports of child abuse. They have to shoulder financial, social, and other costs associated with child maltreatment including costs of hospitalization, child welfare, and mental health treatment, investigating child abuse reports, placing abused children in appropriate care, and taking legal action against the abuser (English, 1998;Malinosky-Rummel & Hanen, 1993). ...
Child maltreatment is a global societal concern with serious consequences for all the nations. While severe child maltreatment catches the attention of child protection services and is brought up to the courts for punishment, there are hidden forms of abuse that are difficult to notice and hence, the predators of such offenses continue to violate the innocence of children over a long period of time. Turkey has to work twice as hard on this issue not only because of the structure of the child protection agencies but also because of the policies and strategies that are in need of revising so that the abusers will get the punishment that they deserve. In order to prevent child abuse it is vital to have parent education programs. This is simply because in our society parents usually see “spare the rod and spoil the child” as a philosophy in the child’s upbringing. If the child is abused at home or by close relatives, a place of intervention might be the school environment. At child at school might exhibit aggressive behaviors or signs of abuse that should alert teachers and school administrators that abuse has taken place. If the educators suspect of abuse they should contact legal authorities to take legal action. Having an informed staff in school is only possible by having a school based intervention program. If the aim is to stop the abuse before it happens then the programs discussed in this paper is definitely a huge leap in the right direction.
... While the prevalence of child maltreatment (both physical and sexual abuse) in South Africa is not established, indications are that the rates are high (Dawes andWard 2008, Jewkes et al. 2002). Maltreatment is associated with negative psychological outcomes during childhood, particularly when chronic (English 1998). As demonstrated by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) studies, the effects persist into adulthood (Felitti et al. 1998, Chapman et al. 2004. ...
... The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI positron emission tomography scan, single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and diffusion tensor imaging has provided indisputable proof that the changes in brain anatomy and function do occur in relation to experiences. [67,68] The areas of the brain involved in neurobiological changes for children witnessing domestic violence, for example, include the midbrain, the limbic system, cortex, corpus callosum, and cerebellum. [69][70][71][72] It makes sense that these areas would also contribute to EI. Work by Cisler et al., in a group of women who had early life stress where they mapped the patients' emotional regulation, found that women who did not become depressed had higher prefrontal cortex activity (a sign of resilience, even though they had early life stress). ...
Emotional Intelligence, or EI, was first defined in the 1990s and was quickly adopted by the business community. The role of EI in leadership has come to the forefront, and is now being recognized as the most important trait/skill set that a leader can possess. In the next decade there will be many challenges to the leaders of Academic Health Centers (AHCs) and understanding the role of EI, as well as the implementation of its precepts in the personal culture of leaders and the organization, will be extremely important. Here we will define emotional intelligence, explain its origins and its importance to the success of AHCs, its importance to medical students, residents and subordinates, how it can be measured, its juxtaposition to nature vs. nurture, and what role simulation may play in increasing the EI skills of members of AHCs. Emotional intelligence theory will evolve over time, as will assessment tools, validations studies, and the further development of professional curriculum for development of individuals and organization.
... English (1998) found that children involved in child welfare services often had health problems that required varying assessments and treatments. It is important for children who are victims of maltreatment to receive (mental health) services that are appropriate and delivered in a timely manner, especially considering the effects that maltreatment may have on their development over time (English, 1998). Bai and colleagues (2009) suggest that policy makers should begin to develop policies that support the coordination between child welfare and ancillary agencies, such as mental health agencies. ...
... This model indicates the potential for improved well-being through the support of both early childhood education and child welfare-associated staff (Meloy & Phillips, 2012). The vast majority of children exposed to maltreatment and who enter the child welfare system exhibit a variety of risk factors that include poverty, racial or ethnic-minority status, and developmental disability (English, 1998). Children characterised by multiple risk factors may have improved social, emotional, and developmental outcomes as a result of involvement with Head Start (Campbell, Ramey, Pungello, Sparling, & Miller-Johnson, 2002). ...
Head Start is a preschool program for families with low incomes and nearly 85% of child welfare-involved families are low-income, yet little is known about Head Start and child welfare collaboration. This study uses data from 28 Head Start directors to describe collaboration facilitators and barriers, and collaborative mechanisms in place. The mixed-methods study used data from a statewide survey and focus groups. Quantitative analysis used descriptive means and proportions. Qualitative analysis used a general inductive approach. Results show that nearly all Head Start programs prioritise enrollment for child welfare-involved children and know about foster care placement, but lack memoranda of understanding (50%), co-located staff (14%) and policies concerning joint service planning (9%). Directors report that Head Start staff need more support, including making referrals to child welfare. Cross-training, shared case planning, and streamlined processes could help move the organisations further along the developmental continuum of collaboration.
... Third, although neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, its potential impact is often ignored in research (English, 1998). Studies often focus attention on overt acts of abuse rather than on the covert but arguably more harmful effects of physical and emotional neglect. ...
Over the last few decades, the phenomenon of child maltreatment (CM) has been recognized as a major social problem by professionals, policymakers, and researchers. Relatedly, high-intensity parental dispute (HIPD) has been increasingly recognized, particularly in terms of its detrimental effect on the family unit and on child welfare in particular. Few studies, however, have considered these two phenomena jointly. The present study examines experiences and perceptions of children situated at their intersection. The sample comprised forensic interviews with 42 children referred to the Israeli Service of Child Forensic Interviews following alleged maltreatment. The results of a thematic analysis pointed to the centrality of children's exposure to HIPD in the context of the CM allegations for which they were referred to and about which they were asked during the interview. In addition, the analysis identified various displays of potential deficiencies in parent-child relationship in the context of HIPD and two main profiles for the disclosure of the CM allegations. The discussion stresses the exposure of the children to HIPD as a possible risk context that should receive further attention by scholars and practitioners. Moreover, it highlights the multifaceted nature of the children's experiences, which generate enormous challenges for practitioners in both clinical and forensic contexts, as well as the importance of an integrated approach that considers the HIPD context while not ignoring the CM allegations.
This study examines low-income women’s cycles of lifelong violence victimization. A qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 24 low-income women living in Eastern Washington State illustrates the complexity of abusive interpersonal relationships, and the decision-making processes that abused women utilize to escape violence. The data illustrate patterns of a discursive process of normalization, wherein early experiences of violence socialized women to treat abuse as a normal and expected component of adult intimate unions. The normalization of abuse also set the stage for later abuse within intimate relationships to be downplayed. The participants’ narratives demonstrate victims’ efforts to interrupt cycles of violence by identifying protection of children and partners’ other problematic behaviors as motivators in terminating their relationships. Abuse itself, however, is rarely stated as a main reason for victims to leave their abusers. The study’s findings also highlight the importance of utilizing alternative sampling strategies, as the sample of domestic violence victims was not recruited via victim support services, but rather for a study of economic strain. The patterns elucidate the multiple ways in which abuse goes unrecognized and unreported within marginalized communities. These findings also provide insight for those within the victim advocacy network and researchers of domestic violence by showcasing the experiences of victims who are often excluded from studies of domestic violence. To those who work actively in the field, this study serves as a call to action to widen sampling strategies and examine abuse in ways that better fit victims’ understandings and experiences of intimate partner and domestic violence.
Introduction:
The medical diagnoses and frequency of emergency department visits made by children who are later given a diagnosis of maltreatment do not differ much from those of nonabused children. However, the type of medical complaints and frequency of emergency medical services (EMS) use by child homicide victims before their death are not known. We compared EMS use between child homicide victims and children who died from natural causes before their death.
Methods:
This was a retrospective case-control study of children 0 to 5 years old who died in Houston, Texas, from 2005 to 2010. Cases were child homicide victims. Controls were children who died from natural causes. We reviewed death data and EMS and child protective services (CPS) encounter information before the victim's death. The association between death type (natural vs homicide) and EMS use was assessed using Poisson regression with EMS count adjusted for exposure time.
Results:
There were 89 child homicides and 183 natural deaths. Age at death was significantly higher for homicides than natural deaths (1.1 vs 0.2 y, P < 0.001). Homicide victims used EMS services (39% vs 14%, P < 0.001) and had previous CPS investigations (55% vs 7%, P < 0.001) significantly more often than children who died from natural causes. Poisson regression, after adjustment for age, revealed that the homicide group had more EMS calls than the natural death group (? = 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.04-1.07; P = 0.03). However, the EMS use frequency and working assessments were not helpful in identifying maltreatment victims.
Conclusions:
Child homicide victims use EMS more often and have a higher number of CPS investigations before their death than children who die from natural causes. However, the frequency and nature of EMS medical complaints are not helpful in identifying maltreatment.
In this chapter, we focus our discussion on the professional site of statutory child protection and show how a discourse of deficit is consequential to the framing of risk in child neglect situations. To illustrate our points, we provide case study evidence from one social worker’s account of a child neglect case. We use an ethnomethodological discourse approach (Garfinkel 1964, 1967, 1996) to analyse the social worker’s written risk assessment of a child neglect situation. Risk Assessment Reports are written accounts of how the institutional member, in this case the social worker, perceives risk, and are one example among the many other types of reporting practices evident in statutory child protection (see Hall et al. 2006; Munro 2004, 2008). We argue that the analysis of such an account can therefore be revealing of how the risk situation is constructed by the institutional member, in this case a social worker (Garfinkel 1967; Hall et al. 2006; Sarangi & Roberts 1995).
Parent-to-parent mutual support and self-help are core elements of any community system of family care. The challenge is to actualize capacity for all parents with due regard to culture, socioeconomic status, gender, place, and other critical factors. The sample programs reviewed here include crisis supports (e.g. helplines), peer-to-peer coaching, parent mutual support groups, support skills development, and neighborhood centers. In each, parent-to-parent relationships are reciprocal – everyone is seeking help and everyone gives help. But programs for self-help and mutual support are often regarded as supplemental to professional services. What if professional services were seen as supplemental to the family’s own efforts? This would require a social norms transformation throughout the social ecology – individual, family, neighborhood, organizational, and policy levels. To honor and support parental efforts as primary, not supplemental, could transform communities in ways that lead to safety, nurture, and stability for children.
The central idea of this article is to show how The Academy, a new educational system created exclusively for young people in U.S. foster care, a system designed for under age youth's temporary home education and protection, helps in dealing with personal and educational problems. It centers specifically on the case of young MexicanAmerican or Mexican-origin youth in foster care nationwide. We use the case of the Academy to study the viability of this kind of educational institution.
Physical and emotional sibling violence has received minimal attention compared with other forms of familial violence. Policy related to addressing physical and emotional sibling violence is scant, whereas the occurrence of violence between siblings is rampant in many families. An overview of the knowledge base regarding this social problem is provided as a backdrop for understanding the current sociopolitical status of sibling violence. Understanding current policy and societal discourse related to addressing sibling violence is possible through Lorraine Fox-Harding's values perspective on childcare policy. The four value perspectives of laissez-faire and patriarchy, state paternalism and child protection, the modern defense of the birth family and parents' rights, and children's rights and child liberation allow insight into how sibling violence is currently viewed and the policy implications of those perspectives. Regardless of one's value perspective, actions around policy and family interventions for sibling violence is warranted. Alternatives to the current situation and consequences of not addressing violent behavior between siblings are discussed along with roles the government, parents, and children can take in addressing this oftentimes underrecognized social justice issue.
There were over 600,000 victims of child maltreatment in the United States in 2011 (USDHHS, 2012b). Maltreated children may experience a confluence of risk factors occurring at multiple systemic levels.Not only the children, but frequently their caregivers, such as birth and foster parents, have lives characterized by risk and adversity. This chapter describes the application of a curriculum designed to offset the negative effects of risk factors on families in the child welfare system. A child welfare professional uses relationship-based coaching to guide caregivers through the curriculum, which builds the resilience of both children and their caregivers, with the ultimate goal to promote reunification and permanency. Your Journey Together can be flexibly delivered to groups or individuals in office or home settings and uses evidence-based assessments and research-informed, resilience-enhancing strategies. This chapter will describe the model, present a case illustration, and discuss preliminary outcome data, implementation challenges, limitations, and future directions.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized family integrity to be a fundamental liberty interest protected by the U.S. Constitution. The Court has recognized that implicit to the family integrity interest is the right to self-determine one's own family life, and in the case of parents, to manage the upbringing of children. However, as child protection has become a more prominent public concern, the state's escalating interest in ensuring the wellbeing of children has permitted it to intervene in areas historically addressed exclusively within the walls of the family home. This Comment argues that the state's interest in the wellbeing of children extends both to protecting a child's physical health and to protecting the less tangible considerations of a child's wellbeing, such as emotional welfare, psychological development, and ability to flourish as a member of society. This Comment further argues that by imposing criminal liability, rather than civil remedies, in situations where an adult places a child's physical, psychological, or emotional wellbeing at risk, the state will further two important initiatives. First, it will encourage a shift in the public's perception of the state's role in protecting children, and second, it will permit the state to better protect children from the harmful behavior of adults.
The novels for children about violence against children may be shocking for some adults, for those in particular who are not used to reading contemporary realistic novels for children. Violence against children is dealt with by the writers for children, and these writers are encouraged by some researchers. However, violence is the subject matter which must be dealt with cautiously. Anne Fine and Jacqueline Wilson are the two British writers for children dealing with violence against children in their novels. The aim of this paper is to discuss how Fine in the Tulip Touch and Wilson in Secrets deal with violence against children. Both Fine and Wilson have been able to write novels about physical abuse, depicting less violence scenes. Fine has focused on the consequences of the indifference of people and the institutions to violence against the child while Wilson displays what the abused child feels and how she is able to overcome her problem. Besides, Wilson emphasizes the significance of the concern of the people around the abused child. Considering both writers’ efforts to emphasize the function of adults’ concern for the problem of the abused children and the role of the adults in solving violence problem, we may suggest that the realistic novels for children about abuse should be read by adults as well.
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.
Purpose - Using Foucault's concepts of biopolitics and governmentality along with sociological constructions of risk this chapter asks "What definitions and procedures have states used in their legislation about FAS to justify state intervention? What are the social and policy implications?" Methodology/approach - Qualitative content analysis of state legislation enacted into law. Findings - Against a backdrop of child abuse which justifies intervention states use different techniques of biopolitics to secure governance over pregnant women and their developing fetuses including (a) a social history of prenatal alcohol consumption; (b) a diagnosis of FAS in the child; and/or (c) a visible or measurable physiological characteristic of the newborn/child associated with FAS. Social implications - This chapter extends the analysis of alcohol consumption by pregnant women to a policy level and examines central questions about the government's role in the biopolitical framing of prenatal alcohol use and the differential assignment of risk and responsibility. Originality/value of chapter - This chapter contributes to work on maternal-fetal conflict risk and governmentality in women's reproductive health. Copyright © 2012 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
This Note takes a new approach to the protection of children from abuse and neglect. It argues that children have a right of access to courts guaranteed by the First Amendment's petition clause. This often overlooked portion of the Federal Constitution overcomes modern jurisprudential obstacles which have refused to extend constitutional protection to child victims of abuse and neglect at the hands of private actors, such as their parents. After a survey of current state practices with respect to the initiation and voluntary dismissal of abuse and neglect proceedings, this Note concludes that restrictions on a child's right of access to courts to begin abuse and neglect proceedings must be judged under strict scrutiny and that recognition of this right should prevent voluntary dismissal of abuse and neglect proceedings.
Purpose
– The Syrian civil war that forced hundreds of thousands of Syrian women and children into Jordan as refugees dramatically increased the number of child labourers in that country. The current investigation aims to establish a body of knowledge on the issues surrounding child labour in Jordan by providing an exploratory diagnosis of the phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to explore verbal and physical abusive practices towards working children and investigate whether there are differences between the treatment of domestic and Syrian refugee child labourers.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research design is quantitative; however, we use a qualitative technique to support and expand the research findings. Data were collected from 124 Jordanian and Syrian working children over a seven-month period in 2013.
Findings
– The results reveal that it is poverty that forces Jordanian children into work while Syrian children are driven by the need for asylum. Of the abusive practices directed towards working children, verbal abuse is the most common. Older children, children from unstable families and those who work long hours are more vulnerable to this form of abuse, while children from unstable family structures and who work long hours are more likely to experience physically abuse. The results reveal that Syrian children are paid much less, are less verbally abused, had better schooling and perceive working conditions more positively than do their Jordanian counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
– Limitations of this research arise from the size the sample.
Social implications
– The current study aims to raise awareness about the importance of preventing abusive practices towards local and refugee children working in Jordan.
Originality/value
– To the best of the authors’ knowledge, very little is known about refugee child labour and how it might differ from domestic child labour.
This article examines the scope of the child maltreatment problem in the United States. Representatives of child protective service agencies in each state and the District of Columbia were interviewed to obtain current estimates of child maltreatment reports and fatalities. The results of the survey indicate that rates of reported and substantiated cases of child maltreatment as well as confirmed child deaths due to abuse or neglect have steadily increased over the past 8 years. Evidence shows that very young children face the greatest risk of dying from maltreatment. Other findings such as specific characteristics of the reported population, differences in states' reporting procedures, and changes in funding of child welfare services are presented along with a discussion of policy implications.
Maltreatment has serious consequences for the development of children. The reason for the negative outcomes is not, however, fully understood. This study investigated the hypotheses that psychological maltreatment would be present in almost all cases of physical maltreatment and that it would be more related to detrimental outcomes for children than would severity of injury. A sample of 175 maltreated children, 39 children in mental health treatment, and 176 normative children was assessed for type and severity of maltreatment. Both hypotheses were supported. In addition, evidence is provided that psychological maltreatment can occur alone, that assessments of parental psychologically maltreating behavior and negative child outcomes are highly correlated, and that child age and gender are unrelated to psychological maltreatment in young children whereas family income is related. Implications for investigation and treatment are considered.
Using scales specifically developed for this purpose, the present study examined university women's retrospective reports of childhood sexual, physical, and psychological abuse as they related to three types of current psychosocial dysfunction. Multivariate analysis revealed that, as hypothesized, history of psychological abuse was uniquely associated with low self-esteem, physical abuse was linked to aggression toward others, and sexual abuse was specifically related to maladaptive sexual behavior. This analysis also indicated that although there were unique effects of each type of abuse, physical and emotional abuse were often present together--a combination associated with generalized psychosocial problems.
The current study examined the incidence and long-term effects of sexual abuse in a nonclinical sample of adult women. Approximately 15% of 278 university women reported having had sexual contact with a significantly older person before age 15. On a modified version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, these women reported higher levels of dissociation, somatization, anxiety, and depression than did nonabused women. Abuse-related symptomatology was positively associated with the age of the abuser, the total number of abusers, use of force during victimization, parental incest, completed intercourse, and extended duration of time.
Research conducted over the past decade indicates that a wide range of psychological and interpersonal problems are more prevalent among those who have been sexually abused than among individuals with no such experiences. Although a definitive causal relationship between such difficulties and sexual abuse cannot be established using current retrospective research methodologies, the aggregate of consistent findings in this literature has led many to conclude that childhood sexual abuse is a major risk factor for a variety of problems. This article summarizes what is currently known about these potential impacts of child sexual abuse. The various problems and symptoms described in the literature on child sexual abuse are reviewed in a series of broad categories including posttraumatic stress, cognitive distortions, emotional pain, avoidance, an impaired sense of self, and interpersonal difficulties. Research has demonstrated that the extent to which a given individual manifests abuse-related distress is a function of an undetermined number of abuse-specific variables, as well as individual and environmental factors that existed prior to, or occurred subsequent to, the incidents of sexual abuse.
This article reviews the literature on the long-term consequences of childhood physical abuse. Empirical research is discussed within 7 topic areas: aggressive and violent behavior, nonviolent criminal behavior, substance abuse, self-injurious and suicidal behavior, emotional problems, interpersonal problems, and academic and vocational difficulties. The studies reviewed involve primarily adult populations, although pertinent findings from literature on children and adolescents are briefly summarized. Some variables that affect the relation between physical abuse and long-term consequences are examined. These moderator variables include maltreatment characteristics, individual factors, family factors, and environmental factors. The article ends with suggestions for future research on long-term consequences and variables that may affect these outcomes.
Violence has been characterized as a ''public health epidemic'' in the United States. At the same time, children's witnessing of violence is frequently overlooked by law enforcement officers, families, and others at the time of a violent incident. Although mothers describe the panic and feal in their children and themselves when violence occurs, little research or clinical attention, has focused on the potential impact on children of living under conditions of chronic community violence. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of available research and clinical understanding of the effects of exposure to violence on school-age and younger children. Suggestions for future research and public policy initiatives are offered.
This important new volume provides a comprehensive account of the causes and consequences of child maltreatment from a developmental perspective. The chapters in the volume offer an historical and definitional context for future studies: What constitutes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse? What is child neglect and how has its definition changed over time? Why has the theory of the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment been overstated for so long? The heart of the volume lies in its careful description of well controlled research on the impact of maltreatment on the developmental process. Specific chapters address the effects of maltreatment on congitive, linguistic, social, and emotional development. Special attention is paid to age-specific deficits in social interaction, to parent-child interaction and attachment in the early years, and to peer relationships during later childhood and adolescence. The psychology of abusive and neglecting parents is also addressed. Who are the maltreating parents and how are they different from comparison parents? What are the conditions under which maltreatment recurs in subsequent generations? The volume concludes with a chapter on the processes at work in maltreatment can be applied to reducing the problem. Child Maltreatment will appeal to both researchers and clinicians in a range of disciplines including developmental and clinical psychology, psychiatry, social work, pediatrics, sociology, and law, as well as to policymakers and students in all of these areas.
Twenty-seven battered women with children under 18 who had sought help at a shelter were interviewed about violence and abuse to their children by themselves and the men involved using a modified Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS). Twenty-one of these women were reinterviewed 6 months later. Longitudinal comparisons indicated that the total group of children were abused less after the woman's stay at the shelter, but a significant proportion maintained patterns of violence and abuse. Most of the reduction resulted from women no longer living with abusive men. Discussion focuses on implications for intervention at a shelter.
The recent surge in reports of child abuse has led Costin, Karger, and Stoesz to examine whether our current responses to the problem are adequate. In this book they trace the cultural, social, and legal factors that have shaped the history of child abuse and responses to it since the 1870s. The public response to child abuse is detailed, from the creation of the first Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the late 19th century, to the relative consignment of child abuse cases to the courts in the early to mid 20th century, and finally to the clinical, individual-level approaches introduced in the 1960s and still practised today.
This article reviews empirical studies investigating the effects of child neglect on children's development. A number of methodological problems inherent in the study of child neglect are described and discussed in terms of their impact on our ability to interpret existing findings. Empirical findings are organized according to domains of development, including physical, intellectual, social, behavioral, and affective functioning. Throughout the review, a developmental perspective is suggested as a means of conceptualizing neglect and understanding its impact on the developing child.
The recognition by researchers that adolescent maltreatment was a distinct category within the overall context of child abuse and neglect did not occur until the 1970s. Since that time, several studies have been completed that effectively highlighted some of the main patterns and dynamics of adolescent maltreatment. Using a thematic approach, this article consolidates the findings from some of these studies. The three themes reviewed are (1) how the maltreatment of adolescents compares to the maltreatment of a younger child, (2) what constitutes the family dynamics of adolescent maltreatment, and (3) what factors impede the identification of, and provision of services to, maltreated adolescents and their families. We conclude with a brief discussion of the practice and policy implications inherent in the current findings and suggestions for further research.
This exploratory study focused on filling some knowledge gaps about the relationship between adolescent motherhood and child neglect. Objectives included identifying predictors of neglect. The 102 subjects were low-income, single parents who gave birth to their first child before 18 years of age. The 22 neglectful mothers had been identified as maltreating by an urban, public child protection program before their 20th birthday. The remaining 80 mothers had never received any of the child welfare services provided by the same agency. Information was collected during in-home interviews. Logistic regression findings (a) revealed that 5 of 11 characteristics were associated with neglect independent of race; (b) identified a model that included two characteristics, educational achievement and number of children born during the teen years, and was modestly successful for predicting neglect; and (c) supported two of the three hypotheses. Discussion focuses on theory development and recommendations for future research.
This article compares the rate of physical abuse of children and spouses from a 1975 study with the rates from a 1985 replication. Both studies used nationally representative samples (2,143 families in 1975 and 3,520 in 1985), and both found an extremely high incidence of severe physical violence against children ("child abuse") and a high incidence of violence against spouses. However, the 1985 rates, although high, were substantially lower than in 1975: the child abuse rate was 47% lower, and the wife abuse rate was 27% lower. Possible reasons for the lower rates in 1985 are examined and evaluated, including: (a) differences in the methods of the studies, (b) increased reluctance to report, (c) reductions in intrafamily violence due to ten years of prevention and treatment effort, and (d) reductions due to changes in American society and family patterns that would have produced lower rates of intrafamily violence even without ameliorative programs. The policy implications of the decreases and of the continued high rate of child abuse and spouse abuse are discussed.
Designed to provide a basis for sound child welfare policy decisions, this book presents current state and national data, as well as data from many cities and counties, on child maltreatment. The six chapters in the book present statistics on: (1) child abuse and neglect, including child abuse fatalities; (2) out-of-home care; (3) adoption; (4) finance and administration of child welfare organizations; (5) risk factors; and (6) possibilities for prevention. Chapter one draws attention to the use of different definitions of neglect and abuse, and investigation procedures by states. Chapter two describes various forms of out-of-home care. Chapter three discusses different types of adoption, all of which provide permanence for children. Chapter four illustrates the expenditures incurred by different states to safeguard and maintain child well-being. The fifth chapter focuses on the condition of poverty as a factor in child maltreatment. The last chapter considers current strategies that are used to prevent child abuse and neglect, as well as the issue of corporal punishment. Most of the data are presented in graphic formats and tables, which are meant to illustrate the wide variations in how states are addressing child abuse and neglect, not to judge the effectiveness of one state compared to another. (BA)
Child maltreatment is one of the greatest social maladies of our time, and current statistics, although staggering, may reflect only the surface of the problem. Human services professionals are required by law to report known or suspected child maltreatment in the US. This 2nd edition of
Mandated Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse offers guidelines and recommendations distilled from the latest empirical literature to respond to mandatory reporting laws in a variety of practice settings. Data on the implications of reporting or not reporting are presented in a "casebook" that summarizes how problems posed by the law can be avoided. New sections also review issues in the mandatory reporting of abuse in other vulnerable populations. In addition, a new chapter on therapeutic jurisprudence explores the therapeutic potential of mandatory reporting laws. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
New research on the impact of child sexual abuse generally confirms the conclusions of an earlier review article by A. Browne and D. Finkelhor (see record
1986-14683-001) and extends findings into a few new areas. For example, more studies are now available concerning the impact of abuse on boys, but they have not found consistent gender differences. Some longitudinal studies have also been completed; they show a decline in symptomatology in the months following disclosure. Two areas of controversy are also prominent. One concerns how to explain the relatively substantial percentages of sexually abused children in most studies who have no symptoms on current diagnostic measures. The second concerns whether posttraumatic stress disorder is a useful conceptual framework for understanding the findings on the impact of sexual abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the relationship between poverty and violence toward children drawing on data collected in national family violence surveys (M. A. Straus et al, 1980; R. J. Gelles and Straus, 1988) held in 1976 (2,143 households) and 1985 (6,002 households). Data support the claim that violence and abuse occur in families across income categories. However, abusive violence was more likely to occur in poor homes. Social and demographic characteristics increased the likelihood that poverty will lead to abuse. Poor young parents who are raising young children have an elevated risk of using the most abusive forms of violence toward their children, as do poor single mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In the course of a 10-year longitudinal investigation of young Swiss adults, childhood sexual abuse was assessed at the age of 30 years. It was reported by 11.5% of women and by 3.5% of men; 56% of the females had been abused by relatives (none of the males), 20% by fathers. Abuse cases tended to be more depressed and anxious; they reported more suicide attempts and more sexual problems than controls and also slightly more psychiatric symptoms and neuroticism. Childhood familial risk factors were more frequent for abuse cases than for controls. Depression at adult age was more strongly connected with early familial risk factors than with early sexual abuse.
This paper addresses several methodological and practical problems encountered in studies of child maltreatment. Among the most significant issues are: 1. 1. Developing classification schemes for multiple forms of maltreatment; 2. 2. Distinguishing between chronic maltreatment and isolated incidents of maltreatment; 3. 3. Identifying potential sources of bias in study samples; 4. 4. Choosing criteria for selecting comparison groups of nonmaltreated children; 5. 5. Determining whether comparison groups have experienced maltreatment; 6. 6. Deciding whether study participants should be informed that the research concerns maltreatment; and 7. 7. Tracking respondents in longitudinal studies. Discussions and illustrations of these problems draw from the author's research on the psychological consequences of abuse for children.
Analyses of data on a nationally representative sample of 3,346 American parents with a child under 18 living at home found that 63% reported one or more instances of verbal aggression, such as swearing and insulting the child. Children who experienced frequent verbal aggression from parents (as measured by the Conflict Tactic Scales) exhibited higher rates of physical aggression, delinquency, and interpersonal problems than other children. This relationship is robust since it applies to preschool-, elementary school-, and high school-age children, to both boys and girls, and to children who were also physically punished as well as those who were not. Children who experienced both verbal aggression and severe physical violence exhibited the highest rates of aggression, delinquency, and interpersonal problems.
This study examined the prevalence and specific types of substance abuse in a sample of 206 cases of serious child abuse or neglect brought before a metropolitan juvenile court on care and protection petitions. In 43% of the cases, at least one of the parents had a documented problem with either alcohol or drugs, a figure which rose to 50% when alleged instances of substance abuse were included. Alcohol, cocaine, and heroin were the three most frequently mentioned abused substances. Parents with documented substance abuse were significantly more likely than nonsubstance-abusing parents to have been referred previously to child protective agencies, to be rated by court investigators as presenting high risk to their children, to reject court-ordered services, and to have their children permanently removed. When the two factors of court investigator high risk ratings and presence of parental substance abuse were combined, it was possible to obtain even higher levels of prediction of which parents would reject services and have their children permanently removed. Results suggest (1) the importance of increased screening, evaluation, and treatment of parental substance abuse in cases of serious child mistreatment; and (2) the possibility of adopting a predictive approach as to which families will be able to respond to court-ordered treatment requests and have their children returned.
Although it has been suggested that certain family characteristics and experiences may mediate the effects of child abuse and neglect, pertinent research conceptualized from this perspective is limited. In this literature review, the cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes for maltreated children are reviewed, and the literature concerned with a variety of family characteristics that may potentially mediate or compensate for the effects of maltreatment is examined. The inherent developmental perspective in conjunction with a family systems orientation reflects a nursing perspective that can be used to understand and intervene with the multivariate phenomenon.
Infancy is a period of rapid developmental change, characterized by transitions and qualitative reorganizations within and among biological, social, emotional, cognitive, and linguistic systems. Consequently, it is argued that it is inappropriate to focus on discrete symptomatology to infer the presence of nascent or incipient infant psychopathology. Rather, disorders in infancy are best conceptualized as relational psychopathologies, that is, as consequences of dysfunction in the parent-child-environment system. Research in the area of child maltreatment is used to illustrate the developmental psychopathology perspective as it applies to relational disorders.
Thirty-seven girls and twelve boys who had been sexually abused at an average of 2.6 years previously were traced and reviewed. The nonoffending parents participated in a structured interview and the children were assessed using the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Each child was matched with a child not known to have been sexually abused and these control children underwent a similar psychological assessment. Interviews with the nonoffending parents found that 76% of the children were thought to be less confident than before, 30% had fewer friends, and 20% were more aggressive. Increased sexual awareness was noted in 24%. School teachers reported that 28% still had behavior problems, 17% had repeated a year at school, and a further 17% had deteriorated in their school work. The sexually abused girls had significantly lower self-esteem than the control girls. There was no difference in self-esteem between the control and the sexually abused boys. There was a higher incidence of stranger assault in the boys compared with the girls. The Child Behavior Checklist completed by the parents, the Teacher Report Form, and the Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist showed that a highly significant proportion of sexually abused children fell into the clinical range. Sexual abuse appears to have long-term adverse consequences for many of the victims. This may have implications for their ability to relate to others, for the adult friendships they will make, and eventually for the way they will relate to their own children.
While many child maltreatment victims suffer serious negative emotional sequelae, others do surprisingly well. Resilience in children is a relative concept which can change over time and is affected by environment and genetics. Resilience is fostered by protective factors which ameliorate or alter a child's response to the hazards of maltreatment that usually predispose to maladaptive outcome. Personal characteristics or skills that may foster resilience include (1) rapid responsivity to danger; (2) precocious maturity; (3) dissociation of affect; (4) information seeking; (5) formation and utilization of relationships for survival; (6) positive projective anticipation; (7) decisive risk taking; (8) the conviction of being loved; (9) idealization of an aggressor's competence; (10) cognitive restructuring of painful experiences; (11) altruism; and (12) optimism and hope. There are also generic life circumstances, such as having access to good health, educational, and social welfare services, that foster resilience in children regardless of the specific nature of the stressor. Additionally, there may be abuse-specific protective factors in the environment. Examples might include the quick and full acknowledgment of an offender regarding abuse, or timeliness and permanence of legal actions affecting a child's custody. The life stories of three well-known survivors of various forms of child maltreatment illustrate how protective factors contribute to resilience. A caution is noted regarding how personal characteristics developed for survival may become maladaptive if overused and/or not given up when the stressor no longer exists. Characterological problems are most likely to develop when a child's life circumstances fail to change and the environment never becomes secure.
This article examines the extent to which a general understanding of an individual's reaction to extreme stress situations and patterns of coping can help in the understanding of personal and situational factors which are crucial for successful coping and survival of abused children. During a 14-year follow-up study, abused children who managed to survive the trauma of their childhood and grow up to be well-adjusted individuals were compared with a matched group of children who show, after 14 years, a high degree of psychosocial pathology. The variables which distinguished the two groups were fatalism, self-esteem, cognitive abilities, self-destructiveness, hope and fantasy, behavior patterns and external support. There were no significant differences between the groups as to difficulties in emotional expression in object relations and in their high degree of aggression. Lazarus' model of stress and coping was used to show the dynamics by which children utilize their personal and situational characteristics to survive and avoid future psychological and developmental damage. Implications of the findings for treatment and therapeutic assignments are indicated.
The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship of childhood sexual abuse with later psychological and sexual adjustment. Subjects were 383 female college students recruited from undergraduate psychology classes. Each was asked to complete a packet which contained a victimization questionnaire as well as measures of adjustment. A number of small, but significant, relationships were found between a history of childhood sexual abuse and measures of later psychological and sexual adjustment. In light of the relationship between family background and sexual abuse, however, it was questioned whether these associations were due to the sexual abuse per se, or were due to the confounding of sexual abuse with family background. Indeed, once parental supportiveness was controlled, very few significant relationships emerged. There was a trend, however, for the significant correlations to involve the sexual measures rather than the more general adjustment measures. The implications of the current findings, particularly for future research, were discussed.
A nonclinical population of college women was surveyed concerning their history of childhood sexual experience, current symptoms, and demographic background. Sixteen percent of the 301 women in the sample reported a history of childhood sexual experience, and while they were not distinguishable demographically from their peers, they were distinguishable in reports of symptoms. Adults who had been victims of abuse as children reported significantly greater symptoms, generally indicative of depression, anxiety, and self-abusive behavior. Women whose experiences occurred within the family were at greater risk for disturbance than women whose experiences occurred outside the family. Clinical implications for children and adults are considered.
Thirty-nine children who had been abused an average of 5 1/2 years earlier and 14 children who had been admitted to the hospital with nonorganic failure to thrive (NOFTT) 13 years earlier were studied to look at similarities and differences in their development. Each group was studied in relation to a comparison group matched for age, sex, social class, and ethnic background. The abused children and those with NOFTT were similar in their language ability, and were significantly behind their comparison groups in language development, reading age, and verbal intelligence. The abused children, but not the group who had NOFTT, were significantly behind their comparison group in general intelligence, interpersonal relations, and self-concept, but in contrast to the children with NOFTT they were not delayed in social maturity. The long-term adverse sequelae of these two conditions emphasize the need for a long-term, child-centered approach.
Defining "emotional abuse" and "psychological abuse" is a task made difficult by uncertainty as to whether or not such terms are synonomous and/or interchangeable. There is an increasing tendency in child protection literature to regard them as synonomous, or at least, to make little distinction between them. The purpose of this paper is to explore the origins of this tendency, and to provide an alternative view, namely, that the terms are not synonomous, and there should be different definitions for each. Existing commonly used definitions are reviewed. The definitions that this paper provides stem from important concepts in emotional and psychological development.
Studies of the link between parental substance abuse and child maltreatment suggest that chemical dependence is present in at least half of the families who come to the attention of child welfare authorities for child abuse and neglect. Parental substance abuse is thought to be a primary factor in greatly increased rates of children entering foster care over the past decade. It is also a clear risk factor for child mental health problems and poor developmental outcomes in children. At the same time, however, minimal attention is often given to training child protective services workers and other child welfare personnel in identifying and confronting substance abuse in families on their caseloads. The authors explore standardized methods developed for screening for substance abuse among various populations and suggest ways of adapting these screening devices for families reported for child maltreatment. They identify assessment and treatment considerations in substance abusing families as well.
Approximately 150,000 confirmed cases of child sexual abuse were reported to child welfare authorities in the United States during 1993. This number represents about 15% of the more than one million confirmed cases of all child abuse and neglect. But the true scope of this problem is better reflected in retrospective surveys of adults, and this article summarizes data from 19 of these surveys. Considerable evidence exists to show that at least 20% of American women and 5% to 10% of American men experienced some form of sexual abuse as children. The rates are somewhat lower among people born before World War II, but there is little evidence of a dramatic increase for recent generations. The studies provide little evidence that race or socioeconomic circumstances are major risk factors. They do show elevated risk for children who experienced parental inadequacy, unavailability, conflict, harsh punishment, and emotional deprivation. Adult retrospective studies are also good sources of information about the characteristics of abuse. Most sexual abuse is committed by men (90%) and by persons known to the child (70% to 90%), with family members constituting one-third to one-half of the perpetrators against girls and 10% to 20% of the perpetrators against boys. Family members constitute a higher percentage of the perpetrators in child protective agency cases because the mandate of these agencies generally precludes their involvement in extrafamily abuse. Around 20% to 25% of child sexual abuse cases involve penetration or oral-genital contact. The peak age of vulnerability is between 7 and 13. Studies of the criminal justice processing of sexual abusers suggest that, compared with other violent criminals, slightly fewer are prosecuted, but of those prosecuted, slightly more are convicted. Studies conducted in the 1980s also showed that, once convicted, relatively few sexual abusers receive sentences longer than one year, while 32% to 46% serve no jail time. Overall, there is little evidence to suggest that either the child welfare system or the criminal justice system abandons its usual standards of operation and acts hysterically when confronted with sexual abuse.
This article offers an overview of the development of risk assessment and its purpose and goals, a summary of research on risk assessment to date, and suggestions regarding future research. This overview indicates that the use of risk assessment is a widespread phenomenon, with differing goals and purposes. Research on risk assessment confirms the lack of conceptual clarity and the difficulty of incorporating it into a child protective services system that emphasizes findings of abuse and/or neglect as the key to continuing involvement in the system.
The study was designed to ascertain the prevalence and nature of sexual abuse in childhood for a community sample of women.
A two-stage design, using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, was employed, providing information on prevalence rates, types of abuse, ages of victims, relationship to the abuser, and cohort effects.
Nearly one woman in three reported having one or more unwanted sexual experiences before age 16 years. A significant number of these experiences (70%) involved genital contact or more severe abuse, and 12% of those abused were subjected to sexual intercourse. The abusers were usually known to the victim, being family members in 38.3% of cases and acquaintances in another 46.3%. Stranger abuse accounted for 15% of all abuse experiences. Most of the abusers were young men, disclosure of the abuse was infrequent, and only 7% of all abuse was ever officially reported. Prevalence rates showed no urban/rural differences, no cohort effect with subject age, and no age differences in disclosure rates.
Child sexual abuse is common, serious, infrequently reported, and the abuser is usually known to the child. Preadolescent girls are at greatest risk.
In the course of a 10-year longitudinal investigation of young Swiss adults, childhood sexual abuse was assessed at the age of 30 years. It was reported by 11.5% of women and by 3.5% of men; 56% of the females had been abused by relatives (none of the males), 20% by fathers. Abuse cases tended to be more depressed and anxious; they reported more suicide attempts and more sexual problems than controls and also slightly more psychiatric symptoms and neuroticism. Childhood familial risk factors were more frequent for abuse cases than for controls. Depression at adult age was more strongly connected with early familial risk factors than with early sexual abuse.
The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between childhood and adolescent physical and sexual abuse before the age of 18 and psychosocial functioning in mid-adolescence (age 15) and early adulthood (age 21) in a representative community sample of young adults. Subjects were 375 participants in an ongoing 17-years longitudinal study. At age 21, nearly 11% reported physical or sexual abuse before age 18. Psychiatric disorders based on DSM-III-R criteria were assessed utilizing the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Revised Version (DIS-III-R). Approximately 80% of the abused young adults met DSM-III-R criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at age 21. Compared to their nonabused counterparts, abused subjects demonstrated significant impairments in functioning both at ages 15 and at 21, including more depressive symptomatology, anxiety, psychiatric disorders, emotional-behavioral problems, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. While abused individuals were functioning significantly more poorly overall at ages 15 and 21 than their nonabused peers, gender differences and distinct patterns of impaired functioning emerged. These deficits underscore the need for early intervention and prevention strategies to forestall or minimize the serious consequences of child abuse.
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