Incidence Of Child Abuse Research Articles

Assessing children for the courts

In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the significant incidence of child abuse and neglect in the population, and of its adverse effect on the development of children and their mental and physical health. This awareness has led, especially following the implementation of the Children Act 1989, to an increased demand for psychiatric assessments of children for the courts by social services, solicitors, guardians adlitem and the courts themselves. There has been some reluctance to take up this work, for two main reasons. First, there has been concern that these time-consuming assessments will result in a shift of resources away from treatment, thus having an adverse impact on the balance of child mental health services. In some areas, the need has been recognised within the commissioning and contracting processes. Provision has been increased accordingly, acknowledging that it is part of the responsibility of the health authorities to assist the local authorities in this way.

Child Abuse

The incidence of child abuse is increasing at alarming proportions in American society. Children of both sexes, and all races, ages, and socioeconomic conditions are affected. The causes of abuse are multifactorial which require a comprehensive approach to prevention and management. Critical care nurses are in a pivotal position to identify victims of child abuse, provide support to children and families, and develop prevention programs.

An ecological approach to social work with children and families

This paper examines research into the social ecology of parents and children, with particular reference to the effects of social support on family functioning and outcomes for children. The historical failure of social work in the UK to successfully apply the findings from this area of research to mainstream work with children and families is considered in the light of the prevailing child protection discourse. Challenges to this discourse are now beginning to emerge from developments in both research and practice. The implications of these developments for the construction of a new discourse, which recognizes the wider social and political factors that shape the family environment, are discussed. It is argued that there is sufficient research evidence available to demonstrate the potential of community social work strategies, which enhance the social support networks of families, to significantly reduce the incidence of child abuse. A number of successful action‐research projects of this nature are considered.

Children of mothers who are at psycho-social risk. Mental health, behaviour problems and incidence of child abuse at age 8 years.

Of the 1575 pregnant women registered at the public Antenatal Health Care Service in the city of Linköping, Sweden, during 1983, an index-group of 78 women were identified who met specific well-defined psychosocial risk-criteria related to drug addiction, mental insufficiency, and particular social circumstances of possible relevance to problems of pregnancy and early child development. Seventy-eight pregnant women who did not meet the inclusion criteria were used as a reference group. The present study was an 8-year follow up in which 47 of the original index children and 57 of the original reference children were examined on indices of mental health, and the presence of child abuse. Their mental health was assessed on the basis of a Symptom and Behaviour Interview (SBI) with the mother and a Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) completed by the mothers and the teachers. The incidence of child abuse was obtained from Social Welfare records. The index children displayed significantly poorer mental health as assessed by the SBI and the CBCL, had a more negative self-image, and child abuse had been investigated in 30% of the index families compared to 1% in the reference families. The study suggests, based on the suboptimal development of the risk children, that screening for early psychosocial risk factors should be done routinely and be combined with early interventions.

Parenting on Edge

This study examines the extent to which participating in a hospital-based home visiting program predicted positive outcomes for adolescent mothers and their children. Based on data obtained from 51 African American economically stressed mothers, results revealed that those participating in the program were less likely to have subsequent pregnancies and sought more medical care for their children, resulting in healthier babies. Significant influence of program participation on incidence of child abuse and neglect was not found. Findings from the study have implications for public policy, education, and prevention program development.

Hostile and demeaning

As members of the Monroe County Council on the Prevention of Child Abuse, in Bloomington, Ind., we would like to respond to the opinions Dr. Ravenel gave about spanking children (Emotions shouldn9t prompt spanking policy, Second Opinions, June AAP News). Dr. Ravenel says that, based on a study done in Sweden, prohibiting spanking children may increase the incidence of child abuse. He says that by making parents feel they have no means to control their children, they may then lose control of themselves and beat the children. This should not be an argument for spanking children. Parents who give up spanking need education and support to make the transition.

The Use of Art Therapy with Abused Children

With reports of the incidence of child abuse in Britain increasing, art therapists are regularly coming into contact with children suffering from the resultant psychological trauma. A central issue is the right of children to be listened to and taken seriously when making allegations of abuse. To this end I explore the possibility of spontaneous art therapy images being used in the diagnosis of abuse and illustrate my hypotheses with images made by children I treated using art therapy. My findings are compared with those made by other clinicians, and I try to establish the important role art therapy plays in helping children explore their trauma, disclose their abuse and come to terms with their experience through visual expression.

Predicting Growth in Child Abuse and Neglect Reports in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Counties

This study analyzes the different effects of demographic, social, and economic factors on the number of child abuse and neglect reports in 18 urban, suburban, and rural California counties over a 6-year period. Some of the findings demonstrate that in urban and rural counties, the number of arrests for narcotics and dangerous drugs in particular is positively linked to the number of child abuse and neglect reports. The findings can aid in the process of sharpening allocation methods for child welfare services and in determining where public efforts should be directed in order to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect.

Parental substance abuse and child maltreatment: Review and implications for intervention

This paper reviews the link between the incidence of child abuse and neglect and parental substance abuse. Parenting and women-specific components are needed in existing drug abuse treatment programs. In addition, parenting and pregnant women who are substance abusers can benefit from comprehensive, family-centered treatment services where recovery is addressed in the context of total family needs. The paper reviews selected family preservation programs and family-oriented drug abuse treatment programs and presents preliminary findings from the authors' ongoing outcome evaluation of New York City's Family Rehabilitation Program.

Child maltreatment: The United States Air Force's response

Families in the military are not immune to problems of child abuse and neglect, but few data have been disseminated which describe child maltreatment in the military. This article reports on the incidence of child maltreatment in the United States Air Force by presenting descriptive data on over 19,587 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect which occurred over a 6-year period. Annual percentage increases in child maltreatment reports are discussed, as are substantiation rates for child abuse and neglect. This article also describes the United States Air Force programs serving military personnel and their families throughout the world. A subset of cases are analyzed and offenders' and spouses' perceptions of the services received and the benefits derived are reported.

A cluster analysis of detected and substantiated child maltreatment incidents in rural Colorado

This paper reports the results of a cluster analysis of the incidents of detected and substantiated child maltreatment in 31 rural Colorado counties during the 5-year period (1986–1990). Mapping and statistical techniques employed revealed time-space clustering in the occurrence of child abuse and neglect in sparsely settled rural areas of the state. The study examined temporal-geographic patterns among all 830 confirmed incidents in the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Registry for counties of less than 10,000 population. These findings suggest that a first incident of abuse or neglect serves as a sentinel event, predicting a period of more frequent receipt and substantiation of maltreatment cases by child protection professionals in the county or community of occurrence. Clustering was apparent using 3-, 7-, 14-, 30-, and 60-day intervals of time; a scheme endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control for national study of the epidemicity of adolescent suicide. An agenda is proposed to review the appropriateness and adequacy of child protection policies and protocols in view of this phenomenon, and to pursue additional related research objectives.

Long-Term Contraceptives in the Criminal Justice System

Three weeks after Norplant was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration it was incorporated into the sentence imposed upon a woman convicted of child abuse. It became quickly apparent that this long-acting contraceptive device created to expand the degree of womens reproductive freedom could also be a tool of the state. The Illinois legislature has prohibited contraceptive sentencing but the practice could be legally permissible in other jurisdictions. The author considers whether the approach can be justified on moral and policy grounds to conclude that long-term contraceptives and other punitive measures to solve the problems of abused and neglected children are shortsighted at best. Contraceptive sentencing can have only the most minimal impact upon the incidence of child abuse and neglect. A governmental system which was really serious about protecting children from abuse and neglect would include a probation office with enough employees to implement all types of court-ordered probation conditions high-quality counseling and education for overwhelmed parents help for substance-abusing parents and job and educational training for those in need of employment a child protective services system which responds promptly to reports of abuse and neglect teacher training programs on the detection of children at risk regular health care by professionals familiar with the signs of abuse and neglect and good prenatal care and full family planning services for poor women. Energies should be directed toward developing and supporting such a system.

Child abuse and neglect in Japan: Coin-operated-locker babies

The coin-operated-locker baby is a type of child abuse that may be unique to Japan. The term refers to newborns who are placed, while alive or dead, in coin-operated lockers. This practice has been decreased by specific measures. It is likely that social and economic variables in Japan account for differences in the frequency and types of child abuse cases when compared to American or European societies as social conditions in Japan change the reported incidence of child abuse may increase in the future. Recently, the government of Osaka organized a group specifically designed to deal with the detection and protection of abused and neglected children. In 1993, they published a manual on how to deal with child abuse, but the Japanese judicial administration still uses old laws for abuse cases. The development of new laws is occurring in parts of the country now. This paper introduces the present status of coping with child abuse and neglect in Japan.

Child abuse: ethical and legal concerns for the nurse.

1. Nurses, as well as many other types of professionals, are required by law to report any incidence or evidence of child abuse or neglect. The nurse or other professional is immune from liability after reporting an incidence of child abuse, but the nurse can be held civilly and criminally liable if he or she fails to make a report of suspected abuse. 2. Nurses are permitted, by law, to enter evidence and testify on behalf of the victim, especially if it is deemed to be too harmful or traumatic for the child to endure. 3. Nurses can aid greatly in the prosecutorial process by utilizing their relationship with the victim to ease the often-daunting pressure of the courtroom and the difficulty in dealing with and recounting the abusive incidents.

Variation in Operation of English Child Protection Registers

SUMMARY English child protection register statistics reveal wide and persistent variations between authorities, but over time their rank order remains moderately stable. Socio demographic characteristics of areas combined with differing policies and practices in keeping the register have been found to explain much of the variability. While statistics of children on registers are not valid measures of the incidence of child maltreatment, registers themselves appear to play a useful part in local child protection systems. FUNCTION OF CHILD PROTECTION REGISTERS Child protection registers in England came into being as one of three main means of improving inter-agency communication in the handling of 'non-accidental injury' to children. In 1974, following the Inquiry into the death of Maria Colwell, the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) advised local and health authorities to form Area Review Committees (now Area Child Protection Committees) to over see local policy and training arrangements; to ensure that case confer ences were held following every suspected case; and to set up a 'central record of information' (the register) which was 'essential to good com munication between the many disciplines involved' (DHSS, 1974). In contrast to the system of mandatory reporting established in the USA, no legal duty to report cases was established in the UK, but the government laid down procedures for agencies to follow (DHSS, 1976; 1980). At this stage registers were still seen mainly as tools to aid inter agency communication, especially in the early identification of cases, and as sources of data for management and research purposes. Their usefulness was disputed: it was reported that they were not much used by local professionals in many areas—which obviously

Twins and Child Abuse

An increased incidence of child abuse and neglect has been documented surrounding twin births. Levy 1 wrote about an increased rate of infant mortality and failure to thrive in twins born into the modern Navajo culture. Robarge et al, 2 in a singleton-birth matched control study, showed an increased incidence of abuse in families after the birth of twins, both in siblings of the twins and in the twins. In a related study, Groothuis et al 3 documented that twin births are associated with a high incidence of perinatal complications that also predispose to abuse. When regression analysis was used to control for perinatal complications, twin status itself was found to be a risk factor for subsequent abuse, presumably owing to the many family stresses imposed by twin births. Nelson and Martin 4 found an increased incidence of abuse among twin pairs. Both twins of a pair were abused 60%

The 1989–90 Migration of Kashmiri Pandits: Focus on Children

Analysis of personal interviews from a sample of 42 Kashmiri Pandit families living in large community halls indicated the migration affected the intra- and interfamily interactions. In trying to keep their ethnic identity, they also had to adapt to their new environment. For the Kashmiri Pandits the sense of being uprooted was felt very strongly as there was a complete change in ecology and loss of status, property, and prestige. The community had taken over the role of socialization. The younger children (4-11 years) expressed enjoyment of communal living more than the older group (12-18 years). Children reported being closer to their mothers. Incidence of child abuse was reported as higher since migration. Girls disliked camp living more than boys. Most of the children were performing above average at school. Children preferred to speak in their native language at home.

TZENG, Oliver C.S., Jay W. JACKSON, and Henry C. KARLSON, THEORIES OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT : Differential Perspectives, Summaries, and Evaluations

Tzeng, Oliver C.S., Jay W. Jackson, and Henry C. Karlson, of Child Abuse and Neglect: Differential Perspectives, Summaries, and Evaluations. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1991, 355 pp., $59.95 hardcover.As the reported incidence of child abuse and nelect escalates, it becomes increasingly urgent that researchers and practitioners join to develop accurate and comprehensive models for the prevention and treatment of child maltreatment. Theories of Child Abuse and Neglect is a landmark attempt to examine current theories of abuse, to provide empirical and research evidence for each theory and, building on these findings, to propose development of a comprehensive, theoretical model which integrates the relevant features of each individual theory into one which can provide the basis for an integrated approach to understanding and treating child maltreatment.In the introduction the authors state that, in examining the existing theories of abuse and neglect, they found that many, if not most, of the current theoretical approaches are limited by either a narrow focus, a single disciplinary orientation, fragmentation in designing services, partial or biased knowledge, and fragmental evaluation. As a consequence, researchers, planners and practitioners come to this topic with widely divergent views and understanding. Misunderstandings and idiosyncratic views mitigate against both unified and well-supported service programs and public-wide understanding of the scope and complexity of child maltreatment.Theories of Child Abuse and Neglect is a presentation of findings from a complex research project which had three major functions: a description of the many individual theories of child abuse and neglect, summaries of each theory across different theoretical views, and an evaluation of each based on supportive or contradictory research studies. Each of six types of child maltreatment is examined--physical abuse, incest taboo, incestuous abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and psychological or emotional mistreatment. Each of the six is then organized under nine theoretical paradigms and explained in terms of the separate theories within each paradigm.Within each theoretical paradigm, the authors have provided an examination of each type of maltreatment based on research available in the field, reviewed the theoretical base of the approach, and analyzed and evaluated the theoretical soundness of the approach. In all, a total of 46 theories, models and perspectives, compiled from historical and contemporary literature, have been analyzed.This exhaustive analysis leads to tbe description of and justification for, a comprehensive theoretical model of child maltreatment, developed earlier by one of the authors, Tzeng (Tzeng, Hanner, & Fortier, 1988). The psychosemantics model, as it is titled, is a conceptual framework for organizing the issues and variables involved in social-behavior perspectives. It is this model which is applied to evaluate the identified theoretical paradigms. The authors state that the psychosemantic model affords the structure to decompose the concerned content issues into operationally defined components, to organize the issues and evidence of each theoretical perspective in terms of the basic conceptual framework of each model, and to summarize the evaluation results of all models in terms of their comprehensiveness and functional sophistication. …

Guidelines on child abuse from the HVA.

Health visitors and school nurses have been urged to lead the fight against the rising incidence of child abuse.

Nurses' attitudes toward emotional, sexual, and physical abusers of children with disabilities.

Some studies have linked birth defects, disability, and chronic illness with an increased incidence of child abuse. Nurses who are involved with disabled children face a challenge in preventing child abuse and intervening in cases in which abuse has occurred. Nurse must become aware of the risk factors and signs of abuse, understand the role of their personal attitudes toward abuse and abusers, and develop the skills to intervene effectively and deal with abusers. Thus, the authors of this article undertook a study to ascertain nurses' attitudes about emotional, sexual, and physical abuse of children with disabilities and to determine if nurses' anticipated level of comfort differed when dealing with abusers of children with disabilities in contrast to abusers of children without disabilities.