Perpetrator of Child Maltreatment Statistics

Child
Maltreatment

Child Maltreatment 1999
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – The Administration
on Children, Youth, and Families) is a result of data collected from each
State’s Child Protective Services (CPS) systems.  The report notes that
definitions vary from State to State. For an example, a State may or may not
count abuse by a babysitter or daycare worker as abuse or count the abuser as
the perpetrator.

This is why the sample size only included
554,047 perpetrators from 21 states and the report said that 61.8 percent of the
perpetrators were female and 38.2 percent were male. This implied that females
were 1.62 times as likely as males to maltreat children. The problem with their
numbers was that the reports divided the perpetrators into nine categories and
four categories did not identify a parent as a perpetrator.

I wanted to express child maltreatment in
terms that involved at least one parent. So I selected the following five
categories: female parent only, both parents, male parent only, female parent
and another, and male parent and another. This is why I excluded the remaining
four categories that included: other, family relative, unknown, and substitute
care worker from the non-fatal child maltreatment
figures.

The study classifies maltreatment as
neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. The percentages for each
classification of maltreatment appears in the tables below. The percentages may
not add to 100 due to rounding.

Neglect Perpetrator Percent  Female parent only 51.7 Both parents 18.5 Male parent only 12.4 Female parent and another 8.2 Other 2.7 Family relative 2.5 Unknown 2.8 Substitute Care Provider 1.3 Male parent and another 1.0

Physical Abuse Perpetrator Percent  Female parent only 35.6 Male parent only 26.6 Both parents 14.2 Female parent and another 7.3 Other 5.8 Family relative 3.9 Unknown 3.6 Substitute Care Provider 1.8 Male parent and another 1.3

Sexual Abuse Perpetrator Percent Male parent only 20.8 Note 5 Family relative 18.2 Other 17.7 Both parents 12.3 Unknown 11.3 Female parent and another 11.0 Female parent only 3.9 Substitute Care Provider 2.8 Male parent and another 2.0

 

 

Neglect
– Both parents account for 18.5% of
neglect cases. I divided this number by 2 and rounded the result up to the
nearest tenth (9.3). Mothers account for 69.2% (51.7 + 9.3 + 8.2), fathers
parents account for 22.7% (12.4 + 9.3 + 1.0), and non-parents account for 9.3%
(2.7 + 2.5 + 2.8 + 1.3) of reported neglect.

Physical Abuse – Both parents
account for 14.2% of physical abuse cases. I divided this number by 2 giving
7.1. Mothers account for 50.0% (35.6 + 7.1 + 7.3), fathers account for account
for 35.0% (26.6 + 7.1 + 1.3), and non-parents account for 15.1% (5.8 + 3.9 + 3.6
+ 1.8) of the reported physical abuse.

Sexual Abuse
– Both parents account for 12.3% of
sexual abuse cases. I divided this number by 2 and rounded the result up to the
nearest tenth (6.2). Mothers account for 21.1% (6.2 + 3.9 + 11.0), fathers
account for 29.0% (6.2 +20.8 + 2.0), and non-parents account for 50.0 % (18.2 +
17.7 + 11.3 + 2.8) of the reported sexual abuse. This data is
disputable.

• Some Child Protective Services workers
  regard a male parent bathing his young children (those who cannot bathe
  themselves or require supervision for their own safety) as sexual abuse. That
  standard is not applied to female parents.
   

• There is an anomaly in the reports. The
  ratio between male parent only and female parent only sexual child abuse is
  (20.8 : 3.9) – 5.33 to 1. However, the ratio between female parent (and
  another) and male parent (and another) sexual child abuse is (11 : 2) – 5.5 to
  1. The report does not explain the nearly equal reversal of ratios and does
  not explain the apparent changes in behaviors.
   

• False family violence, child molestation,
  and child abuse accusations are common in family law settings. I have seen
  estimates of false accusations approaching 90 percent in literature written by
  judges.  Yet,  children are often forced to support these false
  accusations under the promise of parental reunification and other threats and
  inducements.  This can have long term consequences for a child (or the
  children) and the falsely accused parent.  This is noted in the San Diego
  County Grand Jury Report cited later in this paper.

              

Mothers account for 59.7% (43.7 +
8.2 + 7.8), fathers account for 28.9% (19.5 + 8.2 + 1.2), and non-parents
account for 12.3% (4.3 + 3.2.+ 3.2 + 1.6) of the total combined mistreatment of
children (not including sexual assault).

Mothers account for 46.7% (30.4 +
7.5 + 8.8), fathers account for 28.8% (19.9 + 7.5 + 1.4), and non-parents
account for 24.8% (8.7 + 8.2.+ 5.9 + 2.0) of the total combined mistreatment of
children (including sexual assault).

Missing Data –
None of the statistics identify emotional and
psychological abuses such as:

• Arguing or fighting in the presence of
  children.

• Using violent, vulgar, or upsetting
  language in the presence of children.

• Using a child as a physical or
  psychological shield in arguments.

• One parent’s attempt at (or the
  accomplishment of) alienating a child (or the children) against the other
  parent.

Summary – The reports
states “Data on perpetrators from 21 States indicate that, 554,047 perpetrators
identified, 61.8 percent were female and 38.2 percent were male.”  The
following list shows the various measures of mistreatment.  The ratio is
female to male and ratio is mother to father for parental mistreatment, neglect,
or abuse of children

The San Diego County Grand
Jury reported, “There is no dispute within the Juvenile Dependency System
that false allegations of sexual molest during custody disputes occur and that
the system fails to deal with them properly.  There is, however,
considerable dispute about how to handle these cases.  The Jury has found
that a parent making a false allegation of abuse or molest during a custody
dispute is very likely to achieve the desired result.  These accusations
are made primarily to avoid visitation and joint custody provisions and the
accuser frequently succeeds.” 

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Fatal Child
Maltreatment

I wanted to express fatal child maltreatment
in terms that involved at least one parent. So I selected the following five
relationships: female parent only, both parents, male parent only, female parent
and another, and male parent and another. This is why I excluded the remaining
four relationships that include: other, family relative, unknown, and substitute
care worker from the fatal child maltreatment figures.

Most child fatalities are a result of
neglect (38.2%), physical abuse (26.1%), or both (22.7%).  This says
that  87 percent of fatal child maltreatment are a result of neglect,
physical abuse, or both.  The percentages for each relationship leading to
fatal child maltreatment appear in the table below. The percentages may not add
to 100 due to rounding.

The following adjustments are the same that
I used in Child Maltreatment.  When both parents commit the crime, I assign
half of the percentage (rounded up) to each parent. When one parent and another
commit the crime, I assign the full percentage to the parent.

Mothers are responsible for 58.5
percent of child deaths, fathers are responsible for 22.5 percent, and 19
percent are attributed to non parents.  Mothers are 2.6 times more likely
than fathers to fatally neglect or physically abuse their children.

Children less than one are at the
greatest risk and constitute 42.6 percent of the total maltreatment
fatalities.  Children in the one to five year age group constitute 43.5
percent of the fatalities.  So, children less than six years of age
constitute 86.1 percent of the total child maltreatment fatalities.  After
the age two, the victims of fatal maltreatment are more often boys than
girls.

The relationship data shows that children who live
with their father and another stable person are by far safer than remaining with
their mothers.