Chapter 4 Child Maltreatment Victims

The role of the CPS system is to identify and respond to the needs of children who are victims of maltreatment and to ensure that the children remain safe. Victims of maltreatment are defined operationally as children who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing substantiated or indicated maltreatment. In this chapter, the numbers and characteristics of these victims are analyzed by maltreatment type, age, sex, and race/ethnicity; rates per thousand children in the population are also presented.

The numbers and rates presented in this chapter come from both the SDC and the DCDC. All SDC data can be examined in detail in appendix E, the complete SDC data tables presented by State submission. The DCDC data can be examined in the supporting tables in appendix G.

Nationally, in 1998, approximately 903,000 children were victims of maltreatment.¹ The 1998 child maltreatment victimization rate of 12.9 per thousand children in the population is a decrease from the 1997 rate of 13.9 children per thousand. (See figure 4-1.) Between 1990 and 1993, the national victimization rate rose from 13.4 per 1,000 children to 15.3, declining to 12.9 children per thousand in 1998.

In 1998, almost half of the States (49 percent) had child maltreatment victimization rates of 7.0 to 13.9 per thousand children. Figure 4-2 depicts the distribution of child maltreatment rates across the States.

4.2 Types of Maltreatment

In 1998, 53.5 percent of victims suffered neglect, and an additional 2.4 percent were medically neglected; 22.7 percent were physically abused; 11.5 percent were sexually abused; and 6.0 percent were emotionally maltreated. In addition, a quarter (25.3 percent) of all victims were reported to be victims of other or additional types of maltreatment, including "abandonment," "threats of harm to the child," and "congenital drug addiction." (The percentages total more than 100 percent because children may have been victims of more than one type of maltreatment.) Figure 4-3 presents these findings in terms of rates of types of maltreatment for 1990 and 1998. Three types of maltreatment have declined: physical abuse, 3.5 to 2.9 children per thousand; sexual abuse, 2.3 to 1.6 children per thousand; and psychological abuse, 0.8 to 0.6 children per thousand. The rate of neglect has increased from 6.3 to 7.2 children per thousand in the population of reporting States.

4.3 Ages and Sex of Victims

In both 1990 and 1998, the highest victimization rates were for the 0-3 age group; rates declined as age increased (figure 4-4). In 1998, the rates ranged from 14.8 children per thousand for infants and toddlers ages 0-3 to 6.6 children per thousand for teenagers 16-17.

Nationally, in 1998, 51.9 percent of victims were female, compared to 53.5 percent in 1990. The distributions in most States mirror the national distribution.²

4.4 Types of Maltreatment, by Age and Sex

Victimization rates according to maltreatment type differed by victims' ages. Neglect rates were highest for infants and toddlers, ages 0-3, at 9.7 per thousand children in the population, declining to 2.1 children per thousand for teenagers 16-17. Medical neglect ranged from 0.9 per thousand children for the youngest, ages 0-3, to 0.1 per thousand for teenagers 16-17. Sexual abuse, however, increased from 0.5 per thousand for children ages 3 or younger to 2.1 per thousand for youngsters 12-15 and declined to 1.2 per thousand for teenagers 16-17. No clear relationship by age/sex is shown in rates of physical or psychological abuse.³

Generally, rates of maltreatment were comparable for male and female children, with some exceptions. The rate of sexual abuse was 2.3 female victims per thousand female children in the population, compared to 0.6 male victims per thousand male children in the population.

For all types of maltreatment, the average age of female victims was higher than that of male victims. The greatest difference was in the average age of sexual abuse victims—10.4 years for females, compared to 8.6 years for males.

4.5 Race and Hispanic Ethnicity of Victims

Child maltreatment victimization rates by race/ethnicity ranged from a low of 3.8 victims per thousand children who were Asian/Pacific Islanders in the population to 20.7 African-American victims per thousand children of the same race in the population. (See figure 4-5.) The victimization rate for American Indian/Alaska Natives was also high (19.8 children per thousand in the population of the same race), while the rates for Hispanics (10.6 victims per thousand Hispanic children in the population) and Whites (8.5 per thousand children in the population of the same race) were slightly below the national victimization rate (12.9 children per thousand).

While the differences in rates among groups appear large, there is some evidence that factors other than race and ethnicity account for the divergence in these rates.⁴

¹ Child subjects of more than one substantiated or indicated report are counted each time. See appendix G, table G4-1. return

² See appendix G, table G4-4. return

³ See appendix G, table G4-5. return

⁴ For example, see S. Ards, C. Chung, and S. L. Myers, Jr. "The Effects of Sample Selection Bias on Racial Differences in Child Abuse Reporting." Child Abuse & Neglect 22:2 (1998) 103. return