Child maltreatment 2002: recognition, reporting and risk (original) (raw)

Updated trends in Child Maltreatment, 2012

The published NCANDS report shows overall substantiated child maltreatment steady at 9.2 per 1000 children, or about 686,000 children. This rate is low by historical standards and 4.2% below the level of 2008.

Child maltreatment: A global issue

Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 2007

C hild abuse, neglect, and trauma are global problems. Abuse has been defined as when "a person willfully or unreasonably does, or causes a child or young person to do, any act that endangers or is likely to endanger the safety of a child or young person or that causes or is likely to cause a child or young person (a) any unnecessary physical pain, suffering or injury; (b) any emotional injury; or (c) any injury to his or her health or development" (Chan, Elliott, Chow, & Thomas, 2002, p. 361). Trauma may involve witnessing domestic parental or community violence or warfare or experiencing severe loss in natural disasters. The United Nations (UN) maintains that violence is one of the most serious problems affecting children today. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 40 million children below the age of 15 experience abuse and neglect requiring health and social care. At any given time, 300,000 child soldiers, some as young as 8 years, are in armed conflicts in more than 30 countries. In Central and Eastern Europe, 1.5 million children live in orphanages that provide minimal care. Two million children are exploited through prostitution and pornography (UNICEF, n.d.). In the United States, reports of child abuse and neglect have been increasing by approximately 10% a year since 1976 (Children's Defense Fund, 1999). Although fewer parents are reporting a belief in the use of corporal punishment, a 1995 survey in the United States showed that 5% of parents admitted to disciplining their child by hitting the child with an object, kicking the child, beating the child, or threatening the child with a knife or gun. Violence can have severe implications for children's development even when it does not lead to obvious physical injury or death. Violence affects children's health, their ability to learn, and even their willingness to go to school. Much violence toward children is hidden. Children may fear reporting the abuse, or both the abuser and child may see nothing wrong with the violence, viewing it as justifiable punishment. Because of concern regarding violence to children, in 2001, the United Nations called for a comprehensive global study of violence against children. A number of children who are seen by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are likely to have experienced some type of abuse, neglect, or trauma for several reasons. One reason that the caseloads of SLPs are likely to have a number of children who have experienced abuse and neglect is because children with disabilities are more likely to be abused than are children without disabilities (Sullivan & Knutson, 2000). A second reason is that children who experience abuse, neglect, or trauma are more likely to develop disabilities that affect their cognitive and language abilities (Coster & Cicchetti, 1993; Osofsky, 1995). Abuse is more common among children who were born premature or of low birth weight, who have had prolonged illnesses, or who have developmental disabilities (Lynch, 1976; Martin, 1976). This increase in abuse of children with disabilities may be related to the increased stress their families experience as a result of the additional and unrelenting needs of these children or adults' lack of understanding of the children's limitations. Sullivan

On the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment: a research agenda

Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2016

Research on child maltreatment epidemiology has primarily been focused on population surveys with adult respondents. Far less attention has been paid to analyzing reported incidents of alleged child maltreatment and corresponding agency responses. This type of research is however indispensable to know how well a child protection system works and if the most vulnerable are identified and served. Notable findings of child maltreatment epidemiological research are summarized and directions for future studies discussed.

Child maltreatment as a global phenomenon: From trauma to prevention

International Journal of Psychology, 2013

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The prevalence of confirmed maltreatment among US children, 2004 to 2011

JAMA pediatrics, 2014

Child maltreatment is a risk factor for poor health throughout the life course. Existing estimates of the proportion of the US population maltreated during childhood are based on retrospective self-reports. Records of officially confirmed maltreatment have been used to produce annual rather than cumulative counts of maltreated individuals. To estimate the proportion of US children with a report of maltreatment (abuse or neglect) that was indicated or substantiated by Child Protective Services (referred to as confirmed maltreatment) by 18 years of age. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File includes information on all US children with a confirmed report of maltreatment, totaling 5,689,900 children (2004-2011). We developed synthetic cohort life tables to estimate the cumulative prevalence of confirmed childhood maltreatment by 18 years of age. The cumulative prevalence of confirmed child maltreatment by race/ethnicity, sex, and year. At 2011 rates, 12.5%...

The Extent and Consequences of Child Maltreatment

The Future of Children, 1998

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.