child abuse facts & statistics

Child Abuse Facts & Statistics

Child abuse. It's one of the most emotionally charged-and often least understood subjects of our day. Most public attention is given to a select few types of maltreatment; usually physical abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Yet these represent only a small portion of the maltreatment spectrum, and are often not even the most pervasive methods of harm to a child. Here is some basic information that everyone should know regarding child abuse:

1. Around 1,500 deaths are directly attributed to child abuse & neglect each year.

2. Around 75% of fatal abuse victims are under 4 years of age. Approximately 19% of child maltreatment fatalities occur among infants.

3. Most child abuse occurs at the hands of a related adult, most often a parent.

4. Children living in households with unrelated adults are nearly 50 times as likely to die from injuries related to child abuse.

5. Research shows that mere exposure to domestic violence or conflict can be as harmful to children as abusing them directly.

6. Verbal abuse, or putting a child down with diminutive statements, is 7 times more associated with lasting harm than sexual abuse.

7. A good portion of the harm in many cases of abuse comes not from the original acts but by negative social beliefs added afterwards. Those who spread destructive emotional energy about such events, or those who encourage responses that involve conflict or vengeful attitudes can easily do more harm to a child than was done by the original act of abuse.

8. Consistent with the above, children who are sexually abused and come into contact with the justice system are 10 times more likely to become disturbed and remain disturbed than those whose situations are handled through other means.

9. Child welfare organizations have a poorer track record in terms of negative outcomes than any other particular form of abuse or act of violence. Furthermore, more kids are murdered while in state custody per capita than are murdered in their natural homes. The bottom line: being removed from the home and placed into foster care is a worse form of abuse than virtually anything a child may experience in their home, with the exception of the most extreme cases. There are no easy answers to this problem, and any real accomplishments must come from working with the child's caregivers, not against them.

10. Most efforts at helping children are rather narrowly-focused. For instance, sexual abuse is a topic which garners both public scorn as well as a lot of media coverage. Yet this doesn't coincide with actual harmfulness. While every case is unique, each of these following situations generally cause a child more injury and result in worse long-term outcomes than does the common variety of sexual abuse:

· Divorce

· Single parenting or parental absence

· Childhood obesity

· Verbal abuse

· Dysfunctional family settings

· Disciplinary abuse & neglect (in it's many different forms)

· Substance abuse in the family

· Childhood poverty or low SES

· Physical abuse

· Physical neglect

· Emotional neglect

· Overprotection (Information and research regarding all of these topics is available in our book: Child Maltreatment; A cross-comparison)

References:

1) U.S Dept. of Health & Human Services (find full ref)

2) David Finkelhor, head of Crimes Against Children Unit; CDC, 4-4-08, "Nonfatal maltreatment of infants-United States," MMWR Weekly, vol. 57(13), 336-339

3) D.R. Walters (1975) Physical and Sexual Abuse of Children: Causes and Treatment. Bloomington: Indiana University Press

4) Study of Missouri Data, published in the American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005

5) Terry (1997); Delaney-Black TL 2002

6) Ney, PG fung, T., Wickett, A.R. (1994) “The Worst Combination of Child Abuse and Neglect..” Child Abuse and Neglect, 18705-714

7) D.R. Walters (1975) Physical and Sexual Abuse of Children: Causes and Treatment. Bloomington: Indiana University Press

8) Runyan et al. (1988) “In tact of Letal Intervention on Sexually Abussed Children.” Journal of Pediatrics, 113, 647-653

9) Global Children's Fund (2009) Child Maltreatment: A Cross-Comparison. Castle Rock, CO: GCF Unpublished Manuscript

10) Ibid