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Chapter 5
Perpetrators
Child Maltreatment 2006

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. Thus, this chapter provides data about only those perpetrators of child abuse victims and does not include data about alleged perpetrators.

Given the definition of child abuse and neglect, which largely pertains to caregivers, 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) 2006:

• Nearly 80 percent (79.9%) of perpetrators were parents of the victim;
• Approximately 60 percent (60.4%) of perpetrators were found to have neglected children; and
• Approximately 58 percent (57.9%) of perpetrators were women and 42 percent (42.1%) of perpetrators were men.

For the analyses in this chapter, a perpetrator may be counted multiple times if he or she has maltreated more than one child.¹ This chapter presents data about the demographic characteristics of perpetrators, the relationship of perpetrators to their victims, and the types of maltreatment they committed.

Characteristics of Perpetrators

For FFY 2006, 57.9 percent of the perpetrators were women and 42.1 percent were men.²

Women typically were younger than men. The median age of women was 31 years and 34 years for men. Of the women who were perpetrators, more than 40 percent (45.3%) were younger than 30 years of age, compared with one-third of the men (35.1%) (figure 5-1).

The racial distribution of perpetrators was similar to the race of their victims. During FFY 2006, more than one-half (53.7%) of perpetrators were White and one-fifth (20.7%) were African-American. Approximately 20 percent (19.5%) of perpetrators were Hispanic.³

Nearly 80 percent (79.9%) of perpetrators were parents.⁴ Other relatives accounted for an additional 6.7 percent. Unmarried partners of parents accounted for 3.8 percent (figure 5-2). Of the parents who were perpetrators, more than 90 percent (91.5%) were biological parents, 4.2 percent were stepparents, and 0.7 percent were adoptive parents.⁵

More than one-half (60.4%) of all perpetrators were found to have neglected children.⁶ Slightly more than 10 percent (10.3%) of perpetrators physically abused children, and 7.0 percent sexually abused children. More than 11 percent (11.5%) of all perpetrators were associated with more than one type of maltreatment.

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

• Percentages are based on only those perpetrators for whom the age and sex were provided.

Table 5-3

• States that did not provide data or report perpetrator relationship for at least 79 percent of perpetrators were excluded from this analysis.
• The category of "other" includes scout leader, sports coach, and clergy member.

Table 5-4

• States that did not provide data or report perpetrator relationship for at least 79 percent of perpetrators were excluded from this analysis.
• States that did not provide data on type of parent, including those States where the parental type was more than 90 percent unknown, were excluded from this analysis.

Table 5-5

• The category of neglect includes medical neglect.
• The category of multiple maltreatment types includes a combination of any two or more types of maltreatment.
• The category of psychological maltreatment, "other," or unknown includes only victims with a single type of maltreatment.

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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