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

Child abuse is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA and in all other countries which have studied its incidence. It is the second leading cause of death of children in the USA. To decrease the incidence of child abuse and improve the welfare of children there must be international efforts to recognize, and report child abuse and to decrease those risk factors, which place children in jeopardy. In the USA, reports of child maltreatment have decreased each year since 1994 after nearly two decades of increase. The increase was associated with the passage of laws that mandated reporting child maltreatment and increased recognition of maltreatment. Several theories have been proposed to explain the decrease. These include: improved economy with decreased caretaker stress and more vulnerable children in day-care, imprisonment of offenders, treatment of victims to prevent reactive abuse, decreased use of corporal punishment, earlier recognition and reporting, prevention prog...