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Chapter 5
Perpetrators
Child Maltreatment 2007

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) defines a perpetrator as a person who is considered responsible for the maltreatment of a child. This chapter provides data about only perpetrators of child maltreatment and does not include data about alleged perpetrators.

The introduction of alternative response by child protective services (CPS) agencies to allegations of maltreatment has not only contributed to the decrease in victims, but also to a decrease in perpetrators. Perpetrators may be counted multiple times if they maltreated more than one child.¹

Given the definition of child abuse and neglect, which largely pertains to caregivers and not to persons unknown to a child, most perpetrators of child maltreatment are parents. Also included are relatives, foster parents, and residential facility staff. During Federal fiscal year (FFY) 2007:

• There were approximately 859,000 perpetrators;
• Nearly 80 percent (79.9%) of perpetrators were parents of the victim;
• Approximately 60 percent (61.1%) of perpetrators were found to have neglected children.

This chapter presents data about the demographic characteristics of perpetrators, the relation ship of perpetrators to their victims, and the types of maltreatment they committed.

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Age and Sex of Perpetrators

For FFY 2007, 56.5 percent of the perpetrators were women, 42.4 percent were men and 1.1 percent were of unknown sex.² Women typically were younger than men. The median age was 30 years for women and 33 years for men. Of the women who were perpetrators, more than 40 percent (45.0%) were younger than 30 years of age, compared with one-third of the men (34.5%) (figure 5–1). These proportions have remained consistent for the past few years.

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Race and Ethnicity of Perpetrators

The racial distribution of perpetrators was similar to the race of their victims. During FFY 2007, nearly one-half (48.5%) of perpetrators were White and one-fifth (19.0%) were African-American. Approximately 20 percent (19.8%) of perpetrators were Hispanic.³ These proportions also have remained consistent for the past few years.

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Perpetrator Relationship

Nearly 80 percent (79.9%) of perpetrators were parents.⁴ Other relatives accounted for an additional 6.6 percent. Unmarried partners of parents accounted for 4.5 percent (figure 5–2). Of the parents who were perpetrators, nearly 90 percent (87.7%) were biological parents, 4.2 percent were stepparents, and 0.6 percent were adoptive parents.⁵

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Types of Maltreatment

More than one-half (61.1%) of all perpetrators were found to have neglected children.⁶ Nearly 13 percent (12.7%) of all perpetrators were associated with more than one type of maltreatment. Slightly more than 10 percent (10.3%) of perpetrators physically abused children, and 7.1 percent sexually abused children.

Perpetrators were analyzed by relationship to their victims and type of maltreatment. For this analysis, a perpetrator is counted once for each child for each report. Therefore the pattern of perpetrators closely mirrors the pattern of maltreatment types. In other words, neglect represented both the most frequent form of maltreatment and the greatest number of perpetrators. Physical abuse ranked second, and so on.

Overall, 7.2 percent of all perpetrators were associated with sexually abusing a child. The percentage of perpetrators of sexual abuse was highest among friends or neighbors (57.7%), other relatives (32.0%), and child daycare providers (23.9%).

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Tables and Notes

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. Additional information regarding methodologies that were used to create the tables is provided below.

Table 5-1

• The methodology for this analysis was modified from prior years to include counts of perpetrators who were missing data on their sex.
• The methodology for this analysis was modified from prior years. The age group >49 was broken out to display age groups 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, 70–75, and "other" or unknown.

Table 5-3

• States with more than 95 percent of "other" or unknown relationship type were excluded from this analysis.
• The category of "other" includes scout leader, sports coach, and clergy member.

Table 5-4

• States with more than 95 percent of "other" or unknown parental type were excluded from this analysis.

Table 5-5

• The categories neglect and medical neglect are displayed separately. In prior years' reports, these categories were combined and displayed as neglect.
• The categories psychological maltreatment, "other," and unknown are displayed separately. In prior years' reports, these categories were combined.

Table 5-6

• This table was in the Children chapter in prior years.
• The categories neglect and medical neglect are displayed separately. In prior years' reports, these categories were combined and displayed as neglect.
• The categories psychological maltreatment, "other," and unknown are displayed separately. In prior years' reports, these categories were combined.
• States with more than 95 percent of "other" or unknown relationship type were excluded from this analysis.

Chapter 5: Figures and Tables

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Footnotes

¹ A perpetrator is counted for each child in each report. back
² Supporting data are provided in table 5-1, which is located at the end of this chapter. back
³ See table 5-2. back
⁴ See table 5-3. back
⁵ See table 5-4. back
⁶ See table 5-5. back

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