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Statistics
Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities: Statistics and Interventions
National Clearinghouse on Child
Abuse and Neglect Information, 2004
Despite the efforts of the child protection system, child fatalities
remain a serious problem. While the exact number of children affected
is uncertain, child fatalities due to abuse and neglect remain a
serious problem in the United States. Fatalities disproportionately
affect young children and are most often caused by one or both of the
child's parents.
(Unless otherwise noted, statistics
in this fact sheet are taken from Child Maltreatment 2002 (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2004).
How Many Children Die Each Year From Child Abuse and Neglect?
The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System reported an estimated
1,400 child fatalities in 2002. This translates to a rate of 1.98
children per 100,000 children in the general population. NCANDS
defines "child fatality" as the death of a child caused by an injury
resulting from abuse or neglect, or where abuse or neglect were
contributing factors.
Many researchers and practitioners believe child fatalities due to
abuse and neglect are underreported. States' definitions of key terms
such as "child homicide," "abuse," and "neglect" vary (therefore, so
do the numbers and types of child fatalities they report). In
addition, some deaths officially labeled as accidents, child
homicides, and/or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) might be
attributed to child abuse or neglect if more comprehensive
investigations were conducted or if there was more consensus in the
coding of abuse on death certificates.
Recent studies in Colorado and North Carolina have estimated as many
as 50 to 60 percent of deaths resulting from abuse or neglect are not
recorded (Crume, DiGuiseppi, Byers, Sirotnak, Garrett, 2002; Herman-Giddens,
Brown, Verbiest, Carlson, Hooten, et al., 1999). These studies
indicate that neglect is the most underrecorded form of fatal
maltreatment.
Are Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities Increasing?
The rate of child abuse and neglect fatalities reported by NCANDS has
increased slightly over the last several years from 1.84 per 100,000
children in 2000 to 1.96 in 2001 and 1.98 in 2002. However, experts do
not agree whether this represents an actual increase in child abuse
and neglect fatalities, or whether it may be attributed to
improvements in reporting procedures. For example, statistics on
approximately 20 percent of fatalities were from health departments
and fatality review boards for 2002, compared to 11.4 percent for
2001, an indication of greater coordination of data collection among
agencies.
A number of issues affecting the accuracy and consistency of child
fatality data from year to year have been identified, including:
- Variation among reporting
requirements and definitions of child abuse and neglect.
- Variation in State child fatality
review processes.
- The amount of time (as long as a
year, in some cases) it may take a fatality review team to declare
abuse or neglect as the cause of death.
- Miscoding of death certificates.
What Groups of Children Are Most
Vulnerable?
Research indicates very young children (ages 3 and younger) are the
most frequent victims of child fatalities. NCANDS data for 2002
demonstrated children younger than 1 year accounted for 41 percent of
fatalities, while children younger than 4 years accounted for 76
percent of fatalities. This population of children is the most
vulnerable for many reasons, including their dependency, small size,
and inability to defend themselves.
How Do These Deaths Occur?
In 2002, more than one-third (38 percent) of child maltreatment
fatalities were associated with neglect alone. Physical abuse alone
was cited in more than one-quarter (30 percent) of reported
fatalities. Another 29 percent of fatalities were the result of
multiple maltreatment types.
Fatal child abuse may involve repeated abuse over a period of time
(e.g., battered child syndrome), or it may involve a single, impulsive
incident (e.g., drowning, suffocating, or shaking a baby). In cases of
fatal neglect, the child's death results not from anything the
caregiver does, but from a caregiver's failure to act. The neglect may
be chronic (e.g., extended malnourishment) or acute (e.g., an infant
who drowns because she is left unsupervised in the bathtub).
Who Are the Perpetrators?
No matter how the fatal abuse occurs, one fact of great concern is
that the perpetrators are, by definition, individuals responsible for
the care and supervision of their victims. In 2002, one or both
parents were involved in 79 percent of child abuse or neglect
fatalities. Of the other 21 percent of fatalities, 16 percent were the
result of maltreatment by nonparent caretakers, and 5 percent were
unknown or missing. These percentages are consistent with findings
from previous years.
There is no single profile of a perpetrator of fatal child abuse,
although certain characteristics reappear in many studies. Frequently
the perpetrator is a young adult in his or her mid-20s without a high
school diploma, living at or below the poverty level, depressed, and
who may have difficulty coping with stressful situations. In many
instances, the perpetrator has experienced violence first-hand. Most
fatalities from physical abuse are caused by fathers and other male
caretakers. Mothers are most often held responsible for deaths
resulting from child neglect. However, in some cases this may be
because women are most often responsible (or assumed to be
responsible) for children's care (U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse
and Neglect, 1995).
National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information, 2004
The press release announcing these
data is available on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
website at
www.hhs.gov/news/press/2004pres/20040401.html. The Child
Maltreatment 2002 report is available on the Children's Bureau Web
site at
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cmreports.htm.
Victims
An estimated 896,000 children were determined to be victims of child
abuse or neglect in 2002. The rate of victimization per 1,000 children
in the national population has dropped from 13.4 children in 1990 to
12.3 children in 2002.
More than 60 percent of child victims experienced neglect. Almost 20
percent were physically abused; 10 percent were sexually abused; and 7
percent were emotionally maltreated. In addition, almost 20 percent
were associated with "other" types of maltreatment based on specific
State laws and policies.
Children ages birth to 3 years had the highest rates of victimization
at 16.0 per 1,000 children. Girls were slightly more likely to be
victims than boys.
American Indian or Alaska Native and African-American children had the
highest rates of victimization when compared to their national
population. While the rate of White victims of child abuse or neglect
was 10.7 per 1,000 children of the same race, the rate for American
Indian or Alaska Natives was 21.7 per 1,000 children and for
African-Americans 20.2 per 1,000 children.
Services
Approximately 59 percent of victims and 31 percent of nonvictims
received services as a result of an investigation or assessment.
Additional analyses indicated that children who were prior victims of
maltreatment were more than 80 percent more likely to receive services
than first-time victims. Additionally, children with multiple types of
maltreatment were more than 80 percent more likely to receive services
than children with only one type of recorded maltreatment.
Services included both in-home and foster care services. Almost
one-fifth of child victims were placed in foster care. About 4 percent
of nonvictims also experienced a removal-usually a short-term
placement during the course of the investigation. |
