Chapter 5
Perpetrators
Child Maltreatment 2002
A perpetrator of child maltreatment is a person who was found to have abused or neglected a child. In most cases, the perpetrator is responsible for the child's well-being and is often a parent or another caregiver. Nonparental caregivers include persons who were responsible for the supervision of a child, e.g., relatives, foster parents, or residential facility staff.
Characteristics of Perpetrators
For 2002, 58.3 percent of the perpetrators were women and 41.7 percent were men.1 Female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators. The median age of perpetrators was 31 years for women and 34 years for men. More than 40 percent (42.5%) of women who were perpetrators were younger than 30 years of age compared to one-third of the men (32.4%) who were younger than 30 years (figure 5-1).
By far, the largest percentage of perpetrators (81.0%) were parents, including birth parents, adoptive parents, and stepparents (figure 5-2). Other relatives accounted for an additional 6.6 percent. Unmarried partners of parents accounted for 2.9 percent of perpetrators.2
More than one-half (53.3%) of all perpetrators were found to have neglected children.3 Slightly more than 10 percent (11.0%) of perpetrators physically abused children, and 6.9 percent sexually abused children.
There were variations in these overall patterns when the relationship of perpetrator to the child victim was considered. Less than 3 percent (2.5%) of parents committed sexual abuse; however, 28.9 percent of other relatives, 19.3 percent of daycare providers, 16.4 percent of residential facility staff, and 11.2 percent of unmarried partners of parents committed sexual abuse (figure 5-3). More than one-third (36.9%) of perpetrators who were in "other" types of relationships to the child victims—including camp counselors, school employees, and hospital staff—committed sexual abuse.
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Supplementary Tables
The following pages contain the data tables referenced in Chapter 5. Unless otherwise explained, a blank indicates that the State did not submit usable data. Specific information about State submissions can be found in Appendix D.
Chapter Five: Figures and Tables
Notes
1 Supporting data
are provided in supplementary table
5-1, which is located at
the end of this chapter. back
2 See supplementary
table 5-2. back
3 See
supplementary table 5-3. back
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