Child Abuse Statistics

Child Abuse 

Medical Author:

John Mersch, MD, FAAP 

Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR 

IN THIS ARTICLE

• What is the scope of the child abuse problem?
• What age child is abused?
• Are girls more often abused than boys?
• Is the pattern of abuse different for girls and boys?
• What is known about the perpetrators of child abuse?
• Is there an association between poverty and child abuse?
• Who abuses children?
• What is child abuse?
• What does the term child neglect include?
• What actions are viewed as physical child abuse?
• What constitutes emotional child abuse?
• What is sexual child abuse?
• What causes child abuse deaths?
• What factors predispose a person to child abuse?
• How is alleged child abuse evaluated?
• How is child abuse treated?
• How can child abuse be prevented?
• What more can be done to prevent child neglect?
• Are people who were abused as children more likely to become criminals later in life?
• Child Abuse At A Glance
• Child Abuse Glossary
• Child Abuse Index

Are people who were abused as children more likely to become criminals later in life?

According to a 2005 study sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), maltreatment in childhood increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 59% and as an adult by 28%. Abuse as a child also increases the prospect of arrest for a violent crime by 30%.

For females, being abused or neglected in childhood raises the likelihood of arrest by 77%. A related 1994 NIJ study indicated that children who were sexually abused were 28 times more likely than a control group of non-abused children to be arrested for prostitution as an adult.

A 1997 U.S. Department of Justice study sampled 1,000 urban youths in seventh and eighth grades. Childhood abuse and neglect provided a 25% increased risk factor for serious delinquency (assaults, drug use), poor school performance, symptoms of mental illness, and pregnancy. Interestingly, the risk of lesser forms of delinquency (for example, underage drinking) were not increased.

Child Abuse At A Glance

• Child abuse is a serious national problem involving all economic, ethnic, racial, and religious groups.
• Children are abused predominantly by parents, but other caregivers (babysitter) are not infrequent offenders.
• The major types of child abuse are physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. Child neglect is the most frequent type of child abuse and the most lethal.
• If any suspicion of child abuse or neglect exists, a report should be filed with the appropriate agency. Good-faith reports are immune from prosecution. A local system for timely investigation and evaluation should be incorporated in all cases of child maltreatment.
• Prevention (education and counseling) is the best approach for the management of child abuse and neglect.