NCJ Number
216033
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 107-120
Date Published
May 2006
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the trends in child maltreatment (neglect and sexual and physical abuse) for the 1990s and the factors behind child maltreatment in the 1990s.
Abstract
Substantiated cases of child maltreatment have declined more than 20 percent since a peak in 1993. Real declines occurred during the 1990s and early 2000s in child physical and sexual abuse. However, the failure of neglect to decline nationally in the same way as physical and sexual abuse is unclear. Four possible factors are given for consideration in accounting for this decline in child maltreatment and related improvements in child welfare: (1) the 1990s were a time of economic improvement in the United States with lower levels of unemployment and less children living in poverty; (2) criminal justice interventions, particularly increased incarceration played a role in the decline of crime; (3) the advent and widespread dissemination of psychiatric medication for both youth and adults; and (4) a broad generational change where social change resulted from new cohorts with new behaviors and attitudes, as opposed to existing cohorts. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) was the primary data source used to calculate the maltreatment for the 1990s. This article presents a discussion on the factors behind maltreatment in the United States in the 1990s. Figures, notes, references