The first research articles on child abuse and neglect characterized offenders as suffering from various forms of psychopathology (Bennie and Sclare, 1969; Galdston, 1965; Steele and Pollock, 1974). Thus, the initial approach to explaining, understanding and treating maltreatment was to identify the personality or character disorders that were thought to be associated with abuse and neglect. There were many methodological problems that limited studies that attempted to develop psychological profiles of caretakers who maltreated their children. Most early studies had small samples and no, or inappropriate, comparison groups. Collectively, the studies failed to develop a consistent profile of abusers.

Current theoretical approaches tend to recognize the multidimensional nature of abuse and neglect and locate the roots of child maltreatment in psychological, social, family, community and societal factors.

Researchers have identified both risk and protective factors for abuse and neglect. The following are the major risk and protective factors:

Age. One of the most consistent risk factors is the age of the offender. According to NCANDS data on reported and investigated child maltreatment, the modal age of perpetrators is 30 to 39. However, the modal age for female perpetrators--mostly mothers--is 20 to 29 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006).

Sex. Mothers are the most likely offenders in acts of child homicide, accounting for 31.3% of all child homicide perpetrators in 2004 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). Women were the perpetrators in 57.8% of child maltreatment homicides (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006). Of course, women's higher rate of fatal and nonfatal abuse and neglect is not surprising, given that women spend more time caring for children and are delegated far more responsibility for raising children than men.

Income. Although most poor parents do not abuse or neglect their children, self-report surveys and official report data find that the rates of child maltreatment, with the exception of sexual abuse, are higher for those whose family incomes are below the poverty line than for those whose income is above the poverty line. (Pelton, 1994; Waldfogel, 1998)

However, the impact of poverty varies by the age of the child victim and the type of abuse. Child abuse rates are higher for infants who live in high-poverty counties compared to infants growing up in low-poverty counties (Wulczyn, Barth, Yuan, Harden and Landsverk, 2005). The county poverty rate made less of a difference in terms of maltreatment for children older than one year of age. Living in a high-poverty county increased the risk of physical abuse for all children, irrespective of age; however, only one-year-olds had significantly higher rates of neglect in high-poverty versus low-poverty counties. For children older than one, the poverty rate of a county did not make a large difference in terms of the risk of child neglect.

Race. Both official report data and self-report survey data often report that child abuse is overrepresented among minorities. However, both the second and the third study of the National Incidence and Prevalence of Child Abuse and Neglect (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1988; 1996) found no significant relationship between the incidence of maltreatment and the child's race/ethnicity. There was no significant relationship for any of the subcategories of maltreatment. NCANDS data and the two National Family Violence Surveys, however, found stronger relationships between race/ethnicity and violence toward children. According to the most recent NCANDS data, African-American children experienced the highest rates of maltreatment (19.9 per 1,000), followed by Pacific Island (17.6), and Native American children (15.5). The lowest rates were for whites (10.7), Hispanic (10.4), and Asian children (2.9) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006).

Wulczyn and his colleague's (Wulczyn, Barth, Yuan, Harden and Landsverk, 2005) found a much more nuanced relationship between multiple variables in their examination of NCANDS data. Here again, age was a major factor in differentiating the risk of child maltreatment. The rate of maltreatment for African-American children, one year of ago and living in high-poverty counties, was significantly higher than the rate for white or Hispanic children. However, for older children, the race of a child was not a major risk predictor (although the rate of victimization was still highest for African- American children). The same age-specific pattern was found in the low-poverty counties; however, here the rate for older African-American children was higher than for older white or Hispanic children.

References:

1)         Bennie, E. H., and A. B. Sclare. "The battered child syndrome." American Journal of Psychiatry 125 (1969): 975-978.

2)         Galdston, R. "Observations of children who have been physically abused by their parents." American Journal of Psychiatry 122 (1965): 440-443.

3)         National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Study findings: Study of national incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect: 1988. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1988.

4)         National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Study findings: Study of national incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect: 1993. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.

5)         Pelton, L. The role of material factors in child abuse and neglect. In G. B. Melton and F. D. Barry, eds. Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect: Foundations for a New National Strategy. New York: Guilford Press, 1994, pp. 131-181.

6)         Steele, B. F., and C. Pollock. "A psychiatric study of parents who abuse infants and small children." In R. Heifer and C. Kempe, eds. The Battered Child. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974, pp. 89-134.

7)         U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Child Maltreatment 2004: Reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006.

8)         Waldfogel, J. The Future of Child Protection: How to Break the Cycle of Abuse and Neglect. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1998.

9)         Wulczyn, F., R. P. Barth, Y. Y. Yuan, B. J. Harden, and J. Landsverk. Beyond Common Sense: Child Welfare, Child Well-being and the Evidence for Policy Reform. New Brunswick, N.J.: Aldine/Transaction, 2005.

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