Substantiation of reported child abuse or neglect: predictors and implications.

Underreporting and overreporting of suspected child abuse and neglect cases reduce the efficiency of child protection services. We used all the reports in South Australia for 1988-1989 (N = 3,228) to study the determinants of the decision by child protection workers to register a reported incident as being one of child abuse and neglect. Logistic regression showed that registration (substantiation) was predictable from two variables: the age of the alleged victim and the caseworker's estimate of severity. This latter variable needs investigation, as despite its crucial role we have no information on how caseworkers form a judgment about severity.     

Major findings from the Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect

OBJECTIVE: To present key findings from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Maltreatment (CIS) in sufficient detail to provide a basis for international comparisons in terms of forms and severity of maltreatment and the age and sex of victims. METHOD: A survey conducted in a random sample of 51 child welfare service areas across Canada tracked child maltreatment investigations conducted during the months of October to December 1998, produced a national sample of 7672 child maltreatment investigations. Information was collected directly from investigating workers on child and family background, perpetrator characteristics, severity and types of maltreatment and service and court outcomes of investigations. RESULTS: Forty-five percent of investigations were substantiated and in a further 22% of investigations maltreatment remained suspected. Primary reasons for investigation were physical abuse (31%), sexual abuse (11%), neglect (40%), and emotional maltreatment (19%). A larger proportion of physical abuse cases are isolated incidents involving older children and are more likely to lead to injuries. Sexual abuse, neglect and emotional maltreatment involve more chronic situations with children showing signs of emotional harm. Rates of investigated and substantiated maltreatment are lower in Canada compared to the United States, but are higher than rates reported in Australia. CONCLUSIONS: The CIS provides much needed information for developing a better understanding of the profile and needs of children and families investigated by child welfare authorities in Canada. The study also serves as a point from which international comparisons can be made.     

Prediction and prevention of child abuse and neglect

Utilizing an interview, a questionnaire, and observations during labor, delivery, and the postpartum period, a sample of one hundred mothers was identified as at high risk for abnormal parenting practices. These mothers were randomly divided into a “High-Risk Intervene” group (N=50) and a “High-Risk Nonintervene” group (N=50). The “Intervene” group received comprehensive pediatric follow-up by a single physician, a lay health visitor, and/or a public health nurse in the home. The “Non-intervene” group received routine care, although the results of these screening procedures were shared with the physicians and nurses responsible for their ongoing care. Another group of 50 mothers, who delivered during the same time period and who were assessed as low risk in terms of abnormal parenting practices, served as controls. When the children were approximately two years old (mean age 26.8 months), 25 families in each of the three groups were chosen at random for detailed evaluation.     

Use of a home-based microcomputer to analyze community data from reported cases of child abuse and neglect

A personal microcomputer data base program was used to study 184 substantiated 1981 child abuse and neglect cases in the city of Lansing, Michigan. Data on 18 variables were entered directly into the microcomputer from the agency case closing forms in 7$\text{1}\text{2}$ hours. The microcomputer can sort by one or more variables. In analyzing the data, the following questions were addressed: Who reports the child abuse cases? In what types of families does abuse occur? Who are the perpetrators in relation to the child? Who are the victims by age and race? What types of abuse are substantiated? How many of the cases are repeats? Where are substantiated cases located? This study was both simple and inexpensive, requiring minimal staff time, a microcomputer with a data base program, and data already available in agency files. This study could be duplicated in any area by noncomputer persons to help professionals, community organizers, and others to better understand their community and help the abusive family.     

American Indian law on child abuse and neglect

A wide variety of American Indian tribal codes on child abuse and neglect are currently in effect. They range from anachronistic codes that were promulgated about fifty years ago and have never been revised to recently enacted codes that are innovative and incorporate the best practices in the field of protective services. The efforts, now underway, to collect and analyze Indian tribal codes on child abuse and neglect is supportive of the national interest to improve Indian child welfare services. The knowledge gained will be helpful to Indian tribes as they assess their own codes and will provide a new body of information on the laws in the U.S. on child abuse and neglect. In the past few years, increased national support in the United States has been focused on the protection of the best interest of Indian children with specific resources provided for the support of local Indian children and family programs operated by Indian tribal governments. Many Indian tribes are using these resources to develop and revise their child welfare codes, including those elements pertaining to child abuse and neglect. The momentum under way in the United States to improve Indian child welfare services can be expected to continue to include developments in Indian tribal codes on child abuse and neglect.     

Essential elements of successful child abuse and neglect treatment

Not all child abuse is preventable. Society faces an ongoing need to support programs that treat the members of families in which abuse occurs. There is little systeamatically generated knowledge on the most efficient and effective ways to assist parents and children faced with abuse. The purpose of our 40-month study of eleven child abuse and neglect demonstration service programs in the United States was to expand the knowledge base in this area by determining, through evaluative research, the essential elements of successful treatment programs. This paper highlights our findings that pertain to more effective delivery of services to abusive and neglectful parents.     

Navajo child abuse and neglect study: A comparison group examination of abuse and neglect of navajo children

The presence of vastly different cultural influences on child rearing and family life in Native Americans than are found in the general population offers an opportunity to examine the issue of child abuse and neglect in a different cultural context. A study was conducted to obtain baseline data and to isolate types and circumstances associated with maltreatment of Navajo children under 9 years of age. Records from tribal and state courts, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), state social services and a sample of ambulatory pediatric cases were reviewed to elicit abuse or neglect status data for calendar year 1975. Data on 365 abuse or neglect cases were compared with 867 nonabused or nonneglected children (comparison group). A double blind case numbering system was employed to ensure confidentiality of data obtained. Abuse cases were dichotomized according to litigation status (e.g., adjudicated versus documented by clinical findings). Neglect cases were categorized by perceived parental control over circumstances leading to the neglect (e.g., voluntary versus involuntary neglect). Reliability sub-studies were conducted by study staff and Navajo volunteers to assess the degree of agreement in the classification of study case status. Tribal census data for 1975 provided baseline information from which the incidence of abuse or neglect involving Navajo children was established. Extrapolated study data suggests up to 8.6% of the reservation resident Navajo children under age 9 to have been abused or neglected. Various sociode-mographic characteristics differentiating the abusive and neglectful families from those of the nonabused or nonneglected children in the comparison group are reported.     

Countertransference and failure to report child abuse and neglect

Though every state has laws requiring the report of suspected child abuse and neglect, failure to report remains a significant problem. Review of previous research on failure to report suggests that the reporters' anxieties about disrupting their relationship with the child's family as well as the reporters' gender, experience, and training affect willingness to report. Countertransference fear, guilt, shame, and sympathy are discussed as a basis for understanding the reporter's anxieties. We suggest that countertransference issues should be addressed in the training and ongoing practice of mandated reporters. The following mechanisms are offered to deal with this issue in training and practice: (1) teaching professionals about how countertransference reactions may arise during the reporting process (this training may include the use of risk management groups for private practitioners); (2) identification of a community child abuse expert for consultation; and (3) educating child protection workers about psychodynamics aspects of case management.     

Dilemmas for international mobilization around child abuse and neglect

The goal of this commentary is to articulate some issues and dilemmas raised by various efforts to mobilize international action around child abuse and neglect (CAN). We will start by proposing a typology of international mobilization strategies, noting that initiatives to promote CAN programming in new settings have tended to emphasize one of three vectors: governments, professionals, or international NGOs. There are pros and cons to each emphasis, which we discuss. We also review the debates around some of the following dilemmas: Should low-income countries be a top priority for CAN mobilization? Are there cultural and institutional capacities that need to be present in a country in order for CAN programs to work or be ethical? Are some CAN programs more likely to be internationally transferable than others and why so? Has the field adequately considered whether non-CAN programming (e.g., family planning) might actually be more effective at preventing maltreatment than CAN programming? Does the field give adequate acknowledgment that policies and practices emanating from high-resourced and Western countries may not always be the best to disseminate? Are we relying too much on a model of program transplantation over a model of local cultivation? Should we aim for modest rather than ambitious accomplishments in international mobilization? How much emphasis should be placed on the priority dissemination of evidence-based programming? We conclude with some suggestions in the service of clarifying these dilemmas and making some of these decisions more evidence based.     

Stability of retrospective self-reports of child abuse and neglect before and after therapy for child abuse issues

OBJECTIVE: This study is a follow-up to a previously reported outcome study evaluating the efficacy of an emotionally focused therapy for adult survivors of childhood abuse. The present purpose was to evaluate the stability of self-reports of child maltreatment in the context of reduced psychopathology after therapy. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein et al., 1994) was used to measure the extent of child abuse and neglect. METHOD: The CTQ and measures of symptomatology, abuse resolution, and self-esteem were administered at pretreatment to 44 clients and after 6 months of therapy to 33 therapy completers. Post-treatment interviews also assessed changes in clients' perceptions of self and abusive and neglectful others. Analyses examined change on dependent measures, in interviews, and on the CTQ, as well as the test-retest and alpha reliabilities of CTQ factor scales, and the relationship of CTQ factor scales with pretreatment measures of distress. RESULTS: Analyses revealed significant reductions in psychopathology on all dependent measures and reduced self-blame, negatively biased memories, avoidance, and minimization of the abuse after therapy. Reports of abuse and physical neglect on the CTQ remained stable from pre- to post-therapy. All CTQ dimensions demonstrated good internal consistency and convergent validity with trauma-specific measures of distress. CONCLUSIONS: The stability of the CTQ in the context of significantly reduced psychopathology contributes to evidence supporting the accuracy of retrospective self-reports of childhood abuse.     

Patterns of child abuse and neglect associated with chronological age of children living in a midwestern county.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between age of the very young victim and the type of abuse perpetrated against that victim. A secondary objective was to examine gender and racial differences in child abuse and neglect in children between the ages of birth and 7 years. METHOD: Archived data for all cases of substantiated abuse of children for the years of 1990-1996 inclusive were retrieved from a data bank at a county children services department (N = 876). Chi-square analyses were used to determine age, gender, and racial differences in child abuse and neglect in children 0 to 7 years of age. RESULTS: Neglect was the most common form of primary substantiated abuse recorded for this population of children under the age of 7 years, although the incidence of neglect decreased as chronological age of the child increased. Sexual abuse increased in occurrence as the children got older. Girls were more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than boys. No significant age differences were observed for physical abuse or for emotional abuse, and no racial differences were detected for any of the four types of abuse examined. CONCLUSIONS: Although the findings of this study are in agreement with those of previously published reports, there is some question as to whether archived data are an accurate reflection of actual patterns of maltreatment occurring in very young children or whether they represent the types of abuse that are subjectively identified and reported by authorities.