Impoverishment and child maltreatment in African American and European American neighborhoods

Abstract

Although it is well documented that child maltreatment exerts a deleterious impact on child adaptation, much less is known about the precise etiological pathways that eventuate in child abuse and neglect. This paper reports on a multimethod ecological study of the relationship between neighborhood structural factors and child maltreatment reports in African American and European American census tracts. The study had two major components. First, in an aggregate analysis, the effects of four measures of community structure (impoverishment, child care burden, instability, and geographic isolation) on child maltreatment report rates were examined separately for predominantly African American (n = 94) and predominantly European American (n = 189) census tracts. Impoverishment in particular had a significantly weaker effect on maltreatment rates in African American than in European American neighborhoods. Second, focused ethnographies were conducted in four selected census tracts with child maltreatment report rates in the highest and lowest quartiles. Ethnographic data point to the importance of the social fabric in accounting for differences in child maltreatment report rates by predominant neighborhood ethnicity.

Maltreatment of Children Under Age 2 With Specific Birth Defects: A Population-Based Study

“…These variables were standardized against the distribution for the state of Texas and were used to create a composite measure for neighborhood economic impoverishment as described by Korbin et al 20 A neighborhood was considered to have high economic impoverishment if it was .1 SD above the mean level of impoverishment for the state.…”

Toward an integration of family systems and developmental psychopathology approaches

“…For example, to further increase the fidelity between these investigations and principles of developmental psychopathology, recent advances in growth curve analysis will be valuable tools for delineating the interplay between family systems processes and individual differences in developmental trajectories of psychological adjustment~e.g., Curran & Willoughby, 2003;Shaw, Gilliom, Ingoldsby, & Nagin, 2003!. Likewise, new techniques for integrating qualitative and quantitative research hold considerable promise for overcoming differences between developmental psychopathology and family systems approaches in the use of methodological paradigms~e.g., Korbin, Coulton, Chard, Platt-Houston, & Su, 1998;Sullivan, 1998!. We invite you to use the foundation provided in this Special Issue to further the integration between developmental psychopathology and family systems approaches.…”

Spatial Relationships between Neighbourhood Characteristics and Rates of Children from Ethnocultural Communities Reported to Child Protective Services

“…De toutes les variables indépendantes, seule la sous-scolarisation est significative pour tous les groupes ethnoculturels. Des recherches antérieures avaient déjà établi l'effet moindre ou non significatif de la pauvreté sur les taux de signalements dans les territoires à forte concentration de population noire comparativement aux territoires à prédominance blanche 17,21 . D'autres variables décrivant le territoire, non incluses dans les modèles, restent donc à identifier pour les enfants de minorités visibles.…”

“…Parmi les autres caractéristiques structurelles des territoires en lien avec les probabilités de signalement et de mauvais traitements, les territoires où le ratio enfants/adultes est plus grand présentent un risque plus élevé 19,21,26,27 . L'instabilité résidentielle, c'est-à-dire des territoires où les familles déménagent souvent et où il y a de nombreux loyers vacants, est aussi associée aux mauvais traitements 27,28 , notamment dans les territoires à dominance blanche plutôt que ceux à dominance noire 21 .…”

“…L'instabilité résidentielle, c'est-à-dire des territoires où les familles déménagent souvent et où il y a de nombreux loyers vacants, est aussi associée aux mauvais traitements 27,28 , notamment dans les territoires à dominance blanche plutôt que ceux à dominance noire 21 . La densité (au sein des logements et sur le territoire), la proportion de familles monoparentales 29 …”