Kids - Young Victims Of Abuse

In 1999 the U.S. Department of Justice launched a series of publications entitled Crimes Against Children. The first issue conceded that the victimization of children is a hidden and underreported problem for which data are lacking. In fact, it is believed that the majority of victimizations of children are not reported to the police, for reasons that include "adolescent concerns about personal autonomy and fears of being blamed or not taken seriously, family concerns about the negative impact of the justice system on children, and the general perception that nonsexual assaults against youth are something other than real crimes."

Unreported crimes against children are not part of the FBI's Uniform Crime Report. The other major source of crime victimization data, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), does not survey children under the age of 12. Furthermore, the NCVS does not inquire about certain important types of child victimization, including statutory rape and incest. The authors conclude: "Juvenile justice professionals and service providers need to adopt practices that make it easier for juvenile victims to receive the benefits of the justice system."

What do we know, then, about incidence of child abuse? Is child abuse on the rise? We have data (chart) from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), the primary source of national information on abused and neglected children known to state child protective services agencies. The chart shows a year 2000 victimization rate of 12.2 cases per 1,000 children, up slightly over the 1999 rate of 11.8 but still the second-lowest rate overall.

Maltreatment encompasses neglect (including medical neglect), physical or sexual abuse, and emotional or psychological maltreatment. The table below shows the breakdown of child victimizations by type of maltreatment from 1996 through 2000. Neglect is the most prevalent way of abusing children. "Other" abuse can include abuses such as abandonment, threats of harm, or congenital drug addiction.

Child Victimization Rates by Type of Maltreatment: 1996-2000

Type of abuse	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Physical abuse	3.5	3.3	2.9	2.5	2.3
Neglect	7.6	7.5	6.9	6.5	7.3
Medical neglect	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5
Sexual abuse	1.8	1.7	1.5	1.3	1.2
Psychological abuse	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.9	1.0
Other abuse	2.9	1.8	4.1	4.4	2.7

The data shown above have been collected only since 1989 and they measure only cases of child maltreatment known to child protective services. We can assume that many more cases of maltreatment of the most vulnerable of our citizens occur behind closed doors.

Sources: Chart: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Child Maltreatment 2000 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002). David Finkelhor and Richard Ormrod, "Reporting Crimes Against Juveniles," U.S. Department of Justice, November 1999, http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/178887.pdf. Information retrieved October 11, 2002.