CHAPTER 3 PERPETRATORS
State CPS systems collect NCANDS data on "perpetrators" of child maltreatment, the people who have abused or neglected children or have allowed children in their care to be abused or neglected.
It is important to note that States define child maltreatment as the abuse or neglect of children by their parents or by other "caretakers" responsible for the children's care. States differ in their definitions of who count as caretakers. Some States define a babysitter or a daycare worker as a caretaker and would record abuse by a babysitter or daycare worker as maltreatment and list the abuser as a maltreatment perpetrator. Other States have a stricter definition of caretaker and would not count this abuse as maltreatment or abuser as a perpetrator.
This chapter describes the characteristics of those who abused and neglected children in 1999.
3.1 AGE AND SEX OF MALTREATMENT PERPETRATORS (DCDC)
Data on perpetrators from 21 States indicate that, of the 554,047 perpetrators identified, 61.8 percent were female and 38.2 percent were male. As shown in figure 3-1, female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators. Of female perpetrators, 41.5 percent were younger than 30 years of age, but only 31.2 percent of male perpetrators fell within this age group.
3.2 PERPETRATORS BY RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR VICTIMS (DCDC)
As shown in Figure 3-2, the most common pattern of maltreatment was a child victimized by a female parent acting alone (44.7%). Both parents were identified as perpetrators for 17.7 percent of the child victims, and male parents acting alone were identified as perpetrators for 15.9 percent of the victims. Thus, at least one parent was identified as the perpetrator for 87.3 percent of the victims. Substitute care providers and family relatives were infrequently identified as perpetrators; these two categories combined were identified as perpetrators for only 5.4 percent of the victims. These percentages are similar to the percentages reported for 1998. (Note that the SDC also collects data on perpetrators' relationships to their victims. The SDC data is presented in table 3-3.)
3.3 RELATIONSHIP OF PERPETRATORS TO VICTIMS OF SPECIFIC TYPES OF MALTREATMENT (DCDC)
The data in figure 3-3 are based on the association of perpetrators with specific types of maltreatment. The relationship of the perpetrator(s) to the child is reported more than once if the child was a victim of more than one type of maltreatment.
As reported in previous years, female parents acting alone were identified as the perpetrators of neglect and physical abuse for the highest percentage of child victims. In contrast, male parents acting alone were identified as the perpetrators for the highest percentage of sexual abuse victims.
Parents were perpetrators for 91.8 percent and 85.0 percent of victims of neglect and victims of physical abuse, respectively. However, parents were perpetrators for only 50.0 percent of victims of sexual abuse.
