1. How many children are abused in the U.S. each year?

According to a report by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)*, a project of the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, public child protective services agencies received and referred for investigation nearly 2 million reports alleging the maltreatment of 3 million children in 1996. That means reports were filed on about 44 children per 1,000 children in the U.S. population. After investigating those reports, an estimated 1,000,000 children were confirmed as victims of actual abuse and/or neglect situations, an 18% increase since 1990.

Other studies suggest that even more children may suffer abuse and neglect. For example NCANDS' study in 1993, approximately 3 out of every 1,000 children were physically abused; however, a later 1995 telephone survey by the Gallup Poll indicated that as many as 49 out of every 1,000 children may have been physically abused. Another study, the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, also indicates that the number of children who are physically abused or neglected is greater than the number of reported children.

2. What are the different types of child abuse?

Children suffer several types of abuse, all harmful to their physical and emotional development and all requiring intervention. In breaking down the substantiated cases from the NCANDS figures above, the percentages for 1996 were:

Physical Abuse 24%
Sexual Abuse 12%
Neglect 52%
Emotional Abuse 6%
Medical Neglect 3%
Other 14%
"Other" includes cases such as abandonment, congenital drug addiction, educational neglect, and other situations endangering a child. Children may be the victims of more than one type of maltreatment.

3. What is physical abuse?

Physical abuse is the most visible form of child maltreatment, defined as physical injury resulting from punching, kicking, beating, biting, burning, or otherwise harming a child. While these types of injuries can occur by accident, child abuse should be suspected if the explanations do not fit the injury or if there is a pattern of repeated injury. Also, the existence of several injuries in different stages of healing make it obvious they did not happen as a result of one accident. A child who is consistently withdrawn or overly aggressive, who complains of soreness or wears inappropriate clothing for the weather, or who is a chronic runaway may be a victim of abuse.

While corporal punishment is not considered child abuse, many child development and child welfare professionals believe that spanking, hitting or slapping is not effective as a form of punishment and is damaging to the child's self-esteem. Once physical methods of discipline are put into practice, they can escalate into physical abuse if the frequency and severity are increased. Additionally, many experts argue that physical punishment is not only ineffective as a long-term discipline method, it also teaches unwelcome lessons such as violence is a way to solve problems or fear is a good way to motivate obedience. Disciplinary methods such as time-out, loss of privileges, and parental disappointment can be more effective and consistent in teaching children how to replace undesirable behavior with acceptable behavior. No child deserves to be hit for any reason.

4. What is sexual abuse?

It is difficult for most people to talk about sexual abuse and even more difficult for society as a whole to admit that children of all ages are sexually abused every day in this country. In most states, the legal definition for the sexual molestation of a child is an act of a person (adult or child) which forces, coerces, or threatens a child to have any form of sexual contact or to engage in any type of sexual activity. Sexual abuse includes both touching and nontouching offenses. In its most extreme form, it includes sexual intercourse and/or its deviations. But it also includes indecent exposure, exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse or pornographic material, and masturbation in front of a child. Physical offenses include fondling, making a child touch an adult's sexual organs, or any penetration of a child's vagina or anus -- no matter how slight --by any object that doesn't have a valid medical purpose. The sexual exploitation of a child for the purposes of prostitution or use in pornography is also a criminal offense. Also, most child protective service agencies address only intrafamilial sexual abuse. Other forms of sexual abuse of children are addressed by law enforcement.

5. What is neglect?

Child neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment reported to public child protective services agencies (52% of estimated substantiated cases). NCANDS defines neglect as a type of maltreatment that refers to the failure to provide needed, age-appropriate care. Unlike physical and sexual abuse, which can occur once or infrequently, neglect represents an ongoing pattern of inadequate care. Indicators of neglect include poor hygiene, poor weight gain, inadequate medical care, or frequent absences from school. It is estimated that 8 of every 1,000 children experience physical neglect, which may be child abandonment, inadequate supervision, or failure to provide for the child's safety, physical and emotional needs. NCANDS defines medical neglect as "the harm by a caretaker to a child's health due to failure to provide for appropriate health care of the child, although financially able to do so, or offered financial or other means to do so; may also include perinatal exposure to drugs."

6. What is emotional abuse?

Emotional abuse is commonly defined as a pattern of behavior that can seriously interfere with a child's positive emotional development. Those harmful behaviors can include: constant rejection of a child, terrorizing, refusal to provide basic nurturance, refusal to get help for a child's psychological problems, failure to provide the physical or mental stimulation that a child needs to grow, and exposure to domestic violence or corruption such as drug abuse and criminal activity. Children who are constantly shamed, terrorized, humiliated, or rejected suffer at least as much, if not more, than if they had been physically abused.

7. How do these forms of abuse affect a child's development?

It's easiest to identify the dangers of physical abuse, which can cause serious harm such as broken bones or even lead to death. Sexual abuse can sometimes cause so much trauma to a child that years go by before he or she is able to understand or talk about what happened. Sexual victimization robs children of their childhood, creates a loss of trust and feelings of guilt, and can lead to antisocial behavior, depression, identity confusion, loss of self-esteem, and other serious emotional problems. Physical neglect, including medical neglect, can severely impact a child's development by causing failure to thrive, malnutrition, serious illness, physical harm resulting from a lack of supervision, and a lifetime of low self-esteem. Emotional abuse can lead to a poor self-image, alcohol and drug abuse, destructive behavior, and even suicide. Severe emotional neglect of an infant can prevent the baby from properly developing and can even lead to its death.

8. How many children die from child maltreatment?

NCANDS estimated that in 1996, 1,077 children died as a result of abuse and/or neglect based on data gathered from 50 states, and the District of Columbia. This figure is conservative because of the potential for misdiagnosis of childhood deaths and the difficulty states have in gathering information about the circumstances surrounding a child's death. During the five-year period from 1990-1994, public child protective services agencies reported that 5,400 children died as a result of child abuse and neglect. In its 1995 report on fatal child abuse, the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect reported that a more realistic estimate is about 2,000 deaths annually, meaning about five children die every day from maltreatment.

Younger children are the most vulnerable, with the majority of the victims being under the age of five, and nearly half of those children under the age of one. In 1996, 76% of children who died from child abuse and neglect were four years of age or younger.

9. Is the problem getting worse?

The number of children reported for abuse or neglect has been steadily increasing. In 1976, an estimated 669,000 children were reported to child protective services. In 1987, that number had increased to 2,178,000 children reported; in 1996, that number had grown to 3,000,000.

The number of children reported in 1996 represents a 348% increase in the last two decades. On average, based on data from 1976-1993, there has been a 9% annual growth rate in reporting. However, over the five years from 1989 to 1993, this annual rate has leveled off to about 3 percent. Until recently, the increase in the rate of reporting is attributed to increased public awareness. As cited earlier, the number of child victims appears to be significantly larger than what is reported, possibly indicating limitations in the formal system of reporting.

10. What makes people abuse children?

It is difficult to imagine that any person would intentionally inflict harm on his or her own child. Many times physical abuse is a result of excessive overdiscipline or physical punishment that is inappropriate for the child's age. The parent may simply be unaware of the magnitude of force with which he or she strikes a child. Most parents want to be good parents, but sometimes they lose control and are unable to cope. Factors which contribute to child abuse include the immaturity of parents, lack of parenting skills, unrealistic expectations about children's behavior and capabilities, a parent's own negative childhood experiences, social isolation, frequent family crises, and drug or alcohol problems.

Child abuse is a symptom that parents are having difficulty coping with their situation. And, although neglect is commonly linked to poverty, there is a distinction between a caregiver's inability to provide needed care due to lack of financial resources and a caregiver's knowing reluctance and/or refusal to provide adequate care. In either case, children who end up in a neglectful situation need help.

11. What help is available for these children?

Every state and most counties have Social Services agencies that provide protective services to children. They have the legal authority to "explore, study and evaluate" the facts surrounding a reported case of abuse or neglect. Child welfare workers then base their decision on whether or not to remove a child from the family on factors such as:

1) What is the immediate danger or risk to the child?
2) What is the motivation, capacity and intent of the alleged perpetrator?

Child welfare workers are also legally required to make all "reasonable efforts" to reunite the family whenever possible. Sometimes a child is placed in substitute care until the immediate danger has passed and support services can be provided to the family. However, the number of children actually removed from their homes in substantiated cases of maltreatment is relatively small -- about 15%. Sometimes criminal charges have to be filed, depending on the type and severity of the abuse. Convicted perpetrators face a range of penalties from therapy to prison sentences.

12. What should I know about reporting child abuse?

If you feel that a child is in an emergency situation, call local law enforcement immediately. Professionals who work with children, such as doctors and teachers, are required by law in all 50 states to report suspected child abuse or neglect to local child protective agencies. For any citizen, "reasonable suspicion" is all that is needed to contact authorities and file a report. The person responding to your call may ask you several questions to ensure that enough information is available to enable the investigating team to make decisions concerning whether or not abuse and/or neglect has occurred. You might be asked to give your name, the names and address of the family and child, your reasons for suspecting abuse, your relationship to the alleged victim, and any previous suspicions of injury to the child.

Anonymous reports can be made in all 50 states, but are greatly discouraged because they impede the agency's ability to gather all information needed or call the reporter of the abuse as a crucial evidentiary witness if the case goes to trial. All states have laws that protect the reporter of suspected abuse or neglect from legal liability as long as the report was made "in good faith" and not maliciously. Very few reports are deliberately false. Knowing how, when, and what to report about child abuse and neglect may make a life or death difference for a child.

The problem of child maltreatment will not go away on its own. If you suspect child abuse is occurring, report the abuse to your local child protective agency* or to the police if the child is in immediate danger. Help is available for families at risk of abuse. For more detailed information about any of the topics discussed in this report or for a complete listing of resources referred to in this Fact Sheet, contact the American Humane Association, Children's Division at children@americanhumane.org.

NCANDS is funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is a voluntary national data collection and analysis program which combines both federal and state efforts.

© Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 American Humane Association