Child deaths attributed to abuse and neglect: An empirical study

Anderson, Rosalie; Ambrosino, Robert J.; Valentine, Deborah; Lauderdale, Michael L.

doi:10.1016/0190-7409(83)90020-8

Cited by 70 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Filicide victims were usually the first born. These results are consistent with many previous studies that have reported victims of fatal abuse to be the first born or only child (Anderson et al, 1983;Jacquot & Roberts, 1988;Mitchell, 1989;Myers, 1970;Thompson & Wilson, 1989).…”

Section: Victimssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This gender difference is consistent with Finkelhor and Dziuba-Letherman's (1994) conjecture that males have an increasing risk to be victims of fatal abuse with increasing age. Although some reports (e.g., US Department of Health and Human Services, 1997) and studies (e.g., Anderson, Ambrosino, Valentine, & Lauderdale, 1983;Goetting, 1988;Margolin, 1990;Schmidt, Grab, & Madea, 1996) have shown the majority of fatal abuse victims to be male, the gender of fatal abuse victims generally varies in the research literature as being either predominately female or equally male and female (e.g., Brewster et al, 1998;Hicks & Gaughan, 1995;Jason & Andereck, 1983;Schloesser, Pierpont, & Poertner, 1992). The findings of the present study suggest that one possible reason for the victim gender differences in published reports and studies may be because of varying definitions of filicide.…”

Section: Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present finding is consistent with national rates showing that the risk for homicide of African American infants is more than three times that of White infants (US Department of Health and Human Services, 1992). Additionally, others have reported African Americans to be over-represented among child maltreatment (e.g., Plass, 1993) and fatal abuse (e.g., Anderson et al, 1983;Christoffel, Anzinger, & Merrill, 1989;Goetting, 1988;Jason & Andereck, 1983) victims. However, discrepancies in racial composition of fatal abuse victims may be confounded by factors related to social economic status (Bourget & Bradford, 1990;Fiala & LaFree, 1988;Goetting, 1988;Jason & Andereck, 1983).…”

Section: Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The family violence research literature, specifically the literature concerned with fatal abuse, is mixed in its view of whether (e.g., Anderson et al, 1983;Hargrave & Warner, 1992;Hicks & Gaughan, 1995;Krugman, 1995) or not (e.g., Zumwalt & Hirsch, 1987) fatal-abuse victims, perpetrators, and/or families have contact with professional agencies concerning domestic/family violence/neglect before the fatal incident. These mixed findings may be because of the period of time during which a sample was obtained.…”

Section: Contact With Fatal-abuse Victims Perpetrators and Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Lucas

Wezner

Milner

et al. 2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Objective: The present study describes factors related to fatal abuse in three age groups in the United States Air Force (USAF). Method: Records from 32 substantiated cases of fatal child abuse in the USAF were independently reviewed for 60 predefined factors. Results: Males were over-represented in young child victims (between 1 year and 4 years of age) and child victims (between 4 years and 15 years of age) but not in infant victims (between 24 hours and 1 year of age). African-American infant victims and perpetrators were over-represented. Younger victims were more likely to have been previously physically abused by the perpetrator. Perpetrators were predominantly male and the biological fathers of the victims. Infant and young child perpetrators reported childhood abuse histories, while child perpetrators reported the highest frequency of mental health contact. Victims' families reported significant life stressors. Families of young child victims were more likely divorced, separated, or single. Incidents with infants and young children tended to occur without witnesses; incidents with child victims tended to have the victim's sibling(s) and/or mother present. Fatal incidents were more frequent on the weekend, in the home, and initiated by some family disturbance. Conclusions: Differences among groups in factors related to infant and child homicide across age groups may assist in the development of more tailored abuse prevention efforts and may also guide future investigations.

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Section: Victimssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contact With Fatal-abuse Victims Perpetrators and Familiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Lucas

Wezner

Milner

et al. 2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Most victims are under the age of five, with about half being infants; African American/Black children are also more likely to die of abuse or neglect, which is consistent with their over-representation among child welfare clients (Anderson et al 1983;Anyon 2011;Bennett et al 2006;Bernard and Gupta 2008;Douglas and Mohn 2014;Kunz and Bahr 1996;U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 2012).…”

Section: Overview Of Child Maltreatment Fatalitiesmentioning

confidence: 66%

The Presence of Maltreatment Fatality-Related Content in Pre-service Child Welfare Training Curricula: A Brief Report of 20 States

Douglas

Mohn

Gushwa

2014

Child Adolesc Soc Work J

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The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of evidence-based information about child maltreatment fatalities (CMFs) and risk factors for CMFs in pre-service child welfare training curricula in the United States. In this first paper to examine the extent to which child welfare workers receive content on CMFs in their pre-service child welfare training, we reviewed curricula from 20 states. We searched for content related to risk assessment and fatality characteristics in the following areas: child risk factors, parent risk factors, and family/ household risk factors. Our results suggest that workers' receive very little content regarding CMFs. We discuss the findings with regard to child welfare training and practice.Keywords Child welfare training Á Fatal maltreatment Á Child death Á Evidence-based practice Over the last several decades, child welfare professionals have increasingly turned their attention to the problem of children who die as a result of maltreatment-child maltreatment fatalities (CMFs). The field's knowledge of risk factors has improved (Chance and Scannapieco 2002; Graham et al. 2010;McClain et al. 1993;Stiffman et al. 2002) and there are a number of responses and prevention plans in place today because of this increased attention and improvements (Douglas 2005;Durfee et al. 2009;Durfee and Durfee 1995;Webster et al. 2003). Nevertheless, the rate of CMFs remains high (Finkelhor et al. 2010). Recent research on the intersection of CMFs and the child welfare profession indicates that child welfare workers have a lack of knowledge about risk factors for maltreatment-related fatalities, even in the face of training about CMFs (Douglas 2012b); further social science text books on child abuse and neglect show that minimal information on CMFs is presented on fatalities (Douglas and Serino 2013). This brief paper reports on the prevalence of CMFs content and risk factors for CMFs in pre-serve child welfare training curricula.

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Case, Service and Family Characteristics of Households that Experience a Child Maltreatment Fatality in the United States

Douglas

2013

Child Abuse Review

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Child maltreatment fatalities have increasingly received attention over the past three decades and yet there is a dearth of information concerning case, service and family/ household factors associated with maltreatment fatalities. This is a US multi-state study of 135 child welfare workers who experienced the death of a child on their caseload. They reported on the case, service and family/household characteristics of a child who died on their caseload. Results indicate that workers had seen victims one week prior to their death and were closely monitoring families. The most frequently mentioned family characteristics included: parental unemployment, parental mental health, experiencing a major life event and parents' inappropriate age expectations of the child. Parental alcohol and substance use were more common among infant victims; and parental perceptions of the child being 'difficult' were more common among older victims. The results are discussed with regard to future research and prevention for the field. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGES:The primary findings of this study indicate that:• Workers have regular contact with children leading up to the time of their death.• Children die even when they are being closely monitored and have had a full-risk assessment.• Families where children died were not using very many services.

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Child deaths attributed to abuse and neglect: An empirical study

Cited by 70 publications

References 31 publications

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

The Presence of Maltreatment Fatality-Related Content in Pre-service Child Welfare Training Curricula: A Brief Report of 20 States

Case, Service and Family Characteristics of Households that Experience a Child Maltreatment Fatality in the United States

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