Child Abuse and Neglect in the US Today: The Facts
Unfortunately, some children are mistreated by the very people who are supposed to care for and protect them. Child welfare officials provide children who experience neglect or abuse with safe, appropriate homes as well as resources to help them recover from trauma.
Here are the facts about child abuse and neglect in the US today:
1. State and federal laws define child neglect and abuse.
At the state level, both criminal and civil statutes define child neglect and abuse. At the federal level, it is defined by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
Child abuse is a failure, on behalf of the caregiver or parent, causing serious emotional or physical harm; exploitation; sexual abuse; or death of a child, or any act or failure to act that places a child at imminent risk of serious harm. Any individual who has reason to suspect child neglect or abuse has a legal obligation to report it.
Child abuse is more common than many people assume. In 2017 alone, approximately 674,000 children in the US experienced mistreatment consisting of sexual abuse (8.6 percent), physical abuse (18.3 percent), and neglect (74.9 percent).
2. Most children who are sexually abused know their perpetrators.
Child sexual abuse often goes unsuspected, since many perpetrators look and act like everyone else. Abusers may be friends, family members, professionals, or neighbors. Sexual abuse can occur anywhere. It happens in family homes, schools, recreation centers, churches, sports leagues, and anywhere else that children gather.
Abusers are not always adults. Experts estimate that up to 40 percent of child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by older children, or children who are more physically powerful than their victims.
In fact, 90 percent of children who are sexually abused know the person who abused them. An estimated 60 percent of individuals who sexually abuse children are known to the child’s family and are trusted by them to be alone with their child.
3. Statistics indicate that children of both genders experience sexual abuse.
According to the Child Maltreatment report published in 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau found that 9.2 percent of children who were victimized were subjected to sexual abuse.
Statistics published by the Crimes Against Children Research Center indicate that 5 to 10 percent of adult males and 20 percent of adult females recall incidents of sexual abuse or assault from their childhoods.
4. Very young children are particularly vulnerable to child abuse and neglect.
In the US alone, approximately 1,720 children die as a result of abuse and neglect every year. Of those, nearly 50 percent are 1-year-olds. Shockingly, over 70 percent of child abuse and neglect cases in the US which result in death involve infants under 3 years of age.
It is commonly assumed that these child deaths are the result of physical abuse, but the majority of child deaths occur as a result of neglect. More than 91 percent of victims were mistreated by one or both parents. Many times, CPS agents were familiar with parents of children who died from maltreatment.
5. People from all types of backgrounds commit child abuse or neglect.
It is a common misconception that children who are abused come from low-income families. In truth, child abuse happens within all types of families, throughout the full spectrum of socioeconomic statuses. Individuals commit child abuse for a variety of reasons. One of the most common reasons is because they were also abused as children.
Parents perpetrate more than 79 percent of US child abuse cases. Feelings of isolation, helplessness, and stress can overwhelm parents, contributing to abusive behavior. Parents who receive insufficient guidance on how to discipline children appropriately or consistently are at increased risk of developing abusive tendencies.
Addiction and substance abuse may lead to abuse. It may also make bad situations considerably worse.
6. Child abuse and neglect have serious lifelong individual and social consequences.
Child abuse and neglect does not just cause physical damage. It can have serious, lifelong consequences for children who experience it, as well as impacting society as a whole. For example, children who have been abused and neglected are 30 percent more likely to commit violent crimes. Research indicates 36 percent of women who are in prison and 14 percent of men who are in prison were abused as children.
Childhood maltreatment has also been linked by experts to increased incidence of a range of medical conditions in adulthood. These include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, substance abuse, arthritis, lung disease, bowel disease, and brain damage.
7. Child maltreatment can have a physical impact on brain function.
For example, malnutrition or injuries can damage the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions. Maltreatment can also compromise normal function of the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memory and learning. Both could significantly affect a person’s behavior, both in the short and long-term.
The orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for emotion regulation and decision-making. Damage to this area of the brain can cause significant behavioral problems.
