NCJ Number
172955
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: March 1997 Pages: 285-293
Date Published
1997
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A retrospective sequential survey of cautioned and convicted physical and sexual abusers in West Midlands, England, between January 1988 and June 1994 was conducted to describe convicted and cautioned abusers and the nature of the physical and sexual abuse of children.
Abstract
Subjects included 1,113 abused children and 964 abusers. The survey questionnaire was designed with two parts. The first part obtained details on the abused child and the offense committed, while the second part obtained information on the abuser in terms of age, sex, and relationship to the child. Findings revealed that most abuse involved a single child and that many abusers lived in the same household and were in a position of trust. When strangers committed abuse, most abuse was sexual in nature. About one-third of abusers were unemployed, multiple abuse tended to be sexual and perpetrated by men, and the physical abuse of young children tended to be committed by younger women. No woman over 40 years of age had sexually abused a child. Of children under 12 months, 1.5 percent had been sexually abused and 8.5 percent had been physically abused. Most physical abuse occurred in children under 9 years of age, whereas sexual abuse was perpetrated more often in girls between 9 and 11 years of age. The authors note cautioned and convicted offenders may be more representative of abusers than previously thought. 27 references, 5 tables, and 2 figures