NCJ Number
111893
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: (1988) Pages: 189-199
Date Published
1988
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined 84,119 maltreatment reports involving adolescents aged 12 to 17 for 1985, and compared them with a representative sample of protective services reports involving children under 12.
Abstract
The data examined were drawn from child abuse and neglect reports received by the New York State Child Abuse and Maltreatment Register (SCR) between April 1 and August 31, 1985. The study's purpose was to document the nature of official reports to child protective servcies, and to identify factors associated with the decision to substantiate or unsubstantiate a report once it was filed. Specific case characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnicity of the victim and source of report are described, and their relation to case substantiation is examined. Analyses revealed that adolescents represent a substantial proportion of all victims of official child maltreatment reports. The impact of age on substantiation varied as a function of the type of maltreatment: for adolescents, sexual abuse reports were more likely to be substantiated, while neglect and physical abuse rpeorts were less likely to be substantiated. Reports involving adolescents were significantly more likely to involve a female victim. Significant gender differences in substantiation rate were found only for sexual abuse reports involving adolescents. White children were also found to be underrepresented in this sample, while blacks were overrepresented relative to their numbers in the population. The impact of minority status on substantiation was significant for neglect and physical abuse reports involving children. The majority of adolescent reports came from mandated sources, which had a significantly higher substantiation rate than reports from nonmandated sources. Tabular data and 15 references. (Author abstract modified)