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Lesson One:
The Incidence and Prevalance of Child Abuse and Neglect
Contents:
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A Historical View of Child Abuse
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National and State Statistics
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Los Angeles County Data
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Self-Test
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Objectives: Upon completation of this module, the learner
will be able to…
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Identify when the existence of child abuse and neglect became an
identifiable concern in contemporary America
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Describe the incidence and prevalence of child abuse nationally,
statewide and locally
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Identify general types of child abuse and neglect
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Identify a minimum of two reporting agencies in Los Angeles County
to which a report of suspected abuse or neglect can be made
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Child Abuse: A Historical View
Child abuse is not a phenomenon of the 20th century. Children have been physically
traumatized, deprived of the necessities of life, and molested sexually by adults
since the dawn of the human history. What is new, as of the early 1960’s is
that the phenomenon has been formally identified and its more complex form of
pathology explored.
C. Henry Kempe, M.D., and his colleagues at University of Colorado School of
Medicine recognized child abuse as a serious, widespread threat to children’s
lives and called it the “battered child syndrome”. They defined the term
to mean a serious nonaccidental physical injury to a child. Today the term
“child abuse” covers neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse as well
as physical injury.
In 1962, the federal Children’s Bureau prepared and disseminated a model
child reporting law. By 1970 all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico
and the Virgin Islands had enacted their own statutes.
Child abuse and neglect continue to be an important public
issue
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While the nation’s overall crime rate fell 22 percent from 1993 to 1997,
reports of child abuse and neglect grew by 9 percent and confirmed cases increased
by 3 percent. (For further details,
see Appendix 1.)
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During the period 1993 to 1997, Prevent Child Abuse America estimated that
over 5,000 children died from abuse or neglect in the United States.
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46 out of 1,000 children were reported as abused or neglected and 15
children out of 1,000 were confirmed as abused or neglected in 1997.
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