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Chapter 3
Victims
Child Maltreatment 2000

The role of the child protective services (CPS) agency is to respond to the needs of children who are alleged to have been maltreated and to ensure that they remain safe. In 2000, almost three million children were the subjects of a CPS investigation or assessment¹. Approximately 30 percent were found to have experienced or to have been at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect. These children are considered victims of child maltreatment.

In this chapter, the numbers and characteristics of these victims are analyzed. Rates of victims per 1,000 children in the population and 5-year trends on key variables are also presented. In addition, supplementary analyses based on case-level data are presented on maltreatment types by age and sex of victims and on maltreatment recurrence.

VICTIMIZATION RATES

An estimated 879,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2000. This national estimate is based on data from 50 States.² In these States, 12.2 children for every 1,000 children in the population were victims of abuse or neglect. A child was counted each time he or she was found to be a victim of maltreatment (figure 3-1).³

The 2000 victimization rate has shown a small, 1-year increase to 12.2 per 1,000 children, but it is still the second-lowest level in the past decade. This increase may be due to various factors including a more timely completion of investigations, a cleared backlog of investigations awaiting dispositions, or a reduced rate in 1999 of 11.8 per 1,000 children due to census population estimates. It is not possible to tell whether this year's slight increase indicates a trend until more data are collected (figure 3-2).

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TYPES OF MALTREATMENT

In 2000, 62.8 percent of victims suffered neglect (including medical neglect); 19.3 percent were physically abused; 10.1 percent were sexually abused; and 7.7 percent were emotionally or psychologically maltreated. In addition, 16.6 percent of victims were associated with "Other" type of maltreatment, which was not coded as one of the main types of maltreatment. For example, some States included "abandonment," "threats of harm to the child," and "congenital drug addiction" as "Other." The percentages total more than 100 percent of victims because children may have been victims of more than one type of maltreatment.⁴

Figure 3-3 illustrates that in 2000, neglect, which had the highest reported incidence, had a rate of 7.3 victims per 1,000 children, and that psychological maltreatment had a rate of 1.0 victims per 1,000 children.

The rates of victimization by type of maltreatment have fluctuated slightly from year to year. Five-year trends of the rates of physical abuse and sexual abuse per 1,000 children in the population show a decrease. Five-year trends of the rates of medical neglect and psychological or emotional abuse per 1,000 children in the population depict stable rates. For the same timeframe, the rate of neglect per 1,000 children in the population had shown a decrease from 7.6 in 1996 to 6.5 in 1999. Then in 2000, there was an upturn to a rate of 7.3.

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AGE AND SEX OF VICTIMS

In 2000, 48.1 percent of victims were male, and 51.9 percent of the victims were female. The male victimization rate was 11.2 male children per 1,000 in the population compared to a rate of 12.8 female children per 1,000 in the population.⁵

Children in the age group of birth to 3 years had the highest victimization rate (figure 3-4). Overall, the rate of victimization is inversely related to the age of the child. The victimization rates ranged from 15.7 children per 1,000 children aged birth to 3, to 5.7 children per 1,000 aged 16-17.⁶ In terms of 5-year trends, the percentage of victims by age group has remained relatively stable.⁷

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TYPES OF MALTREATMENT BY AGE AND SEX OF VICTIMS (DCDC or Child File)

Case-level data can be used to examine patterns of maltreatment by the age and the sex of victims. In general, younger children had higher rates of victimization across maltreatment categories, except for victims of sexual abuse.⁸

Male and female victims had similar rates of victimization for all types of maltreatment, except sexual abuse. For example, rates of physical abuse, neglect, and medical neglect were nearly identical for children of both sexes. However, the female sexual abuse rate was higher than the male sexual abuse rate (1.7 victims per 1,000 female children compared to 0.4 victims per 1,000 male children).

Other findings, by age group, are listed below:

• The rates of male and female neglect victimization were higher than for other forms of victimization. Children in the age group birth to 3 years had the highest rates of neglect (11.5 for male victims and 11.0 for female victims).
• The rate of physical abuse for male victims was highest in the 4-7 years age group (2.7 victims for every 1,000 male children). The highest physical abuse rate for females occurred in the 12-15 age group (3.1 victims for every 1,000 female children).
• The greatest difference in the median age of victims for the sexes was for sexual abuse-the median age for female victims was 11 years and the median age for male victims was 8 years. This pattern is also apparent for physical abuse. Female victims of physical abuse had a median age of 10 years, while male victims of physical abuse had a median age of 8 years.

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RACE AND ETHNICITY OF VICTIMS

More than half of all victims were White (50.6%); a quarter (24.7%) were African American; and a sixth (14.2%) were Hispanic. American Indian/Alaska Natives accounted for 1.6 percent of victims, and Asian-Pacific Islanders accounted for 1.4 percent of victims.⁹

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CHILD MALTREATMENT RECURRENCE (DCDC or Child File)

For most children who experience maltreatment recurrence, the efforts of the CPS system have not been successful in preventing the subsequent victimization. However, recurrence may also be influenced by an increased exposure to reporting sources, including service providers. Thus, analyses of short-term recurrence, as in this report, reflect observed recurrence and should be supplemented by analyses of recurrence across longer periods.

Recurrence within 6 months of the initial substantiated or indicated maltreatment occurred with 8.6 percent of abuse or neglect victims.¹⁰ Ten States-Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas-had a recurrence rate equal to or less than 6.1 percent, which is the national child safety standard used in evaluating State outcome performance by the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR).¹¹

Fifteen States provided sufficient data to support an analysis of the factors that influence the likelihood of recurrence.¹² In this analysis, recurrence is defined as a second substantiated or indicated maltreatment occurring within a 6-month period. The major results of the analysis are summarized below:

• Children who had been victimized prior to a first report in 2000 were more than three times as likely to experience recurrence compared to children without a prior history of victimization.
• In comparison to children who experienced physical abuse, children who were neglected were 27 percent more likely to experience recurrence. Children who experienced more than one type of maltreatment were 15 percent more likely to experience recurrence than physically maltreated children were.
• When postinvestigation services were provided, children were 66 percent more likely to be maltreated again; children placed in foster care were 20 percent more likely to experience abuse and neglect than children who were not placed.
• The youngest children (from birth through age 3) were most likely to experience a recurrence of maltreatment.
• Compared to White children, African American children were 22 percent less likely to experience recurrence. Children of Hispanic ethnicity were 16 percent less likely to experience recurrence than White children.
• Children reported by other or unknown sources, which for the most part are nonprofessionals, were 34 percent more likely to experience recurrence than children reported by social services or mental health services personnel. Children reported by education personnel were 18 percent more likely to experience recurrence than children reported by social services or mental health services personnel.
• Children for whom the perpetrator was the female parent only were more likely to experience recurrence than children who were abused by other types of perpetrators.

The regression analysis results support a general conclusion that younger children, those neglected or who experience multiple maltreatment forms, those with female parent perpetrators, and those who have been reported before are the most vulnerable to continued maltreatment. Children and their families who have received services, including placement, and those reported by nonprofessionals and educators are more likely to experience recurrence. These findings are consistent with those reported in the analysis of recurrence for the 1999 data, the first year this analysis was prepared. This year, the influence of the relationship of the perpetrator has also been analyzed.¹³

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SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES

The following pages contain the tables referenced in Chapter 3. Unless otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit useable data and a number in bold indicates either a total or an estimate.

Chapter Three: Figures and Tables

Notes

¹ Supporting data are provided in supplementary table 3-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. Back
² See supplementary table 3-2. Back
³ See supplementary table 3-3. Back
⁴ See supplementary table 3-4. Back
⁵ See supplementary table 3-6. Back
⁶ See supplementary table 3-7. For information about victims by single-year age groups, see supplementary table 3-8. Back
⁷ See supplementary table 3-9. Back
⁸ Rates by type of maltreatment and age and sex of victims will vary slightly from the rates of victimization because a child can be the victim of more than one type of maltreatment. See supplementary table 3-10. Back
⁹ See supplementary table 3-11. Back
¹⁰ See supplementary table 3-12. Back
¹¹ The CFSR was mandated by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89). The national standards were defined in an Information Memorandum issued by the Administration for Children and Families on August 16, 2001. Back
¹² See supplementary table 3-13. Back
¹³ The inclusion of perpetrator data reduced the number of States that could be included in the analyses due to the lack of either perpetrator data or perpetrator relationship data. Criteria used for excluding data from some States are discussed on the first page of Chapter 4, Perpetrators. Back

 

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