Chapter 3
Victims
Child Maltreatment 2001
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 2001, three million children were the subjects of a CPS investigation or assessment.1 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
Approximately 903,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect during 2001. This national estimate is based on data from 51 States.2 In these States, 12.4 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). The 2001 victimization rate of 12.4 is comparable to the 2000 rate of 12.2 per 1,000 children in the population, especially given that the child population base numbers were estimated (figure 3-2).3 Both the 2000 and 2001 rates are lower that the 1998 rate. The 1999 rate is considered an outlier that was unduly influenced by the census population estimates.
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Types of Maltreatment
During 2001, 59.2 percent of victims suffered neglect (including medical neglect); 18.6 percent were physically abused; 9.6 percent were sexually abused; and 6.8 percent were emotionally or psychologically maltreated. In addition, 19.5 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 (supported by table 3-5) illustrates that 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 maltreatment per 1,000 children in the population depict slightly fluctuating rates. For the same timeframe, the rate of neglect per 1,000 children in the population had shown a decrease from 7.5 in 1997 to 6.5 in 1999. For 2001, the rate was 7.1.
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Sex and Age of Victims
For 2001, 48.0 percent of child victims were male, and 51.5 percent of the victims were female. The sex for 0.5 percent of child victims was unknown or not reported.5
Children in the age group of birth to 3 years accounted for 27.7 percent of victims. Overall, the rate of victimization is inversely related to the age of the child (figure 3-4).6 These proportions have remained constant during the past 5 years.7
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Race and Ethnicity of Victims
Half of all victims were White (50.2%); a quarter (25.0%) were African American; and a sixth (14.5%) were Hispanic. American Indians and Alaska Natives accounted for 2.0 percent of victims, and Asian-Pacific Islanders accounted for 1.3 percent of victims.8 These percentages have remained stable for the past several years.
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Child Maltreatment Recurrence (Child File)
For most children who experience maltreatment recurrence, the efforts of the CPS system have not been successful in preventing 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 8.9 percent of abuse or neglect victims.9 Twelve States —Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware,Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming —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).10
Twenty-one States provided sufficient data to support an analysis of the factors that influence the likelihood of recurrence.11 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 2001 were more than twice 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 44 percent more likely to experience recurrence. Children who experienced additional types of maltreatment were 17 percent more likely to experience recurrence, and children who had experienced multiple forms of maltreatment were 14 percent more likely to experience recurrence than physically maltreated children were.
- Children who received postinvestigation services were 50 percent more likely to be maltreated again; children placed in foster care were 23 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 17 percent less likely to experience recurrence. Children of Hispanic ethnicity were 20 percent less likely and Asian Pacific Islanders were 27 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 law enforcement were 19 percent less likely to experience recurrence than children reported by "Social Services" or "Mental Health Services Personnel."
- Children for whom the perpetrator was the father or a nonparent were less likely to experience recurrence than children who were abused by just their mother.
The regression analysis results support a general conclusion that younger children, those neglected or who experience multiple maltreatment forms, those maltreated by their mothers, 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 or educators also 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.
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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 usable 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 victim's by
single-year age see supplementary table
3-8. Back
7 See
supplementary table 3-9. Back
8See
supplementary table 3-10. Back
9 See supplementary
table 3-11. Back
10 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
11 See
supplementary table 3-12.Back
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