NCJ Number
72987
Journal
Victimology Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: (1979) Pages: 29-45
Date Published
1979
Length
17 pages
Annotation
In contrast to latent or overt child battering, the less obvious form of abuse, child neglect has been rarely studied. This paper attempts to fill the gap by investigating the relationship of alcohol abuse to child neglect.
Abstract
Files of the Child Protection Agency of Alberta (Canada) were used, but problems were encountered with the availability and nature of this data source. Files were accessbile for 1974 and 1975 on only 350 cases out 4,000; including 1976, a total of 1,880 suspected or confirmed child neglect cases were analyzed for contributing factors. Since the material consisted of social worker and police reports, a biased and incomplete perspective on the events recorded is possible. Moreover, the crude definitions employed by the center to distinguish child neglect records from child abuse files additionally hampered the investigation. Of the files included, 80.9 percent consisted of cases in which a confirmed or suspected incident of child neglect had occurred. The natural mother was most often the neglectful individual, and parents as a whole were the predominant group of neglectors. The records noted alcohol use in only 33.4 percent of the child neglect cases. The majority (83.2 percent) of those child neglectors who used alcohol were under the influence of alcohol when their children suffered neglect. In comparing neglectors to nonneglectors, it was found that those who drank displayed a greater tendency to neglect their children by a weak correlation of .19. In addition, the incidence of married natural parents living together was lower among alcohol users than nonusers. Although the findings do not conclusively support the hypothesis, they do justify further research on the relationship of alcoholism and forms of child abuse. Tentative conclusions about child neglect patterns indicate that such factors as the disruption of family organization and the necessity of raising a child alone are conducive to the occurrence of neglect especially in combination with alcohol abuse. Tables and over 50 references are provided.