NCJ Number
165019
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 20 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1996) Pages: 1003-1018
Date Published
1996
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Data from the 1990 census and the 1992 child protective services database in Missouri were used to study the relationship between neighborhood poverty and three types of child maltreatment: neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
Abstract
The research used zipcodes as the unit of analysis and included all 185 Missouri zipcodes with 1,000 or more families with children under 18 years of age. The analysis focused on both rates of reporting and rates of substantiated reports across areas with low, moderate, and high poverty. Results revealed that neighborhood poverty is positively associated with all three forms of child maltreatment, but to different degrees. Child neglect was most powerfully associated with neighborhood poverty status. Findings were consistent with prior research examining the relationship between poverty and physical abuse and neglect and make it clear that urban neighborhoods with high poverty present a risk to children. In addition, future empirical research exploring maltreatment across economic classes must distinguish between subtypes of abuse and should recognize the potential complexity of causal factors rather than focusing on poverty alone. Figures, tables, and 53 references