Using Theory to Examine Fatal Child Maltreatment Among a Sample of Children Known to Child Protective Services

Douglas, Emily M.

doi:10.1080/15548732.2015.1041668

Cited by 14 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Study characteristics including study population, data sources, and measures of housing stress and child maltreatment are described in Table 1. The most common study population was families involved with CPS in varying capacities (see Table 1; Courtney et al, 2004; Douglas, 2015; Douglas & Mohn, 2014; Farrell et al, 2017; Font & Warren, 2013; Jones, 2004; Zlotnick et al, 1998). Additional study populations included families residing in homeless or emergency shelters (Park et al, 2004; Rodriguez & Shinn, 2016; Wood et al, 1990), families receiving public benefits or social services such as Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and TANF (Berger et al, 2015; Hirsch et al, 2015; Howard et al, 2009; Slack et al, 2017; Yang, 2015), a longitudinal sample of high-risk families (Marcal, 2018; Park et al, 2015; Warren & Font, 2015), a birth cohort (Culhane et al, 2003), and state and nationally representative samples (Merrick et al, 2018; Radcliff et al, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Chandler

Austin

Shanahan

2020

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

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Child maltreatment is a significant public health issue in the United States. Understanding key risk factors for child maltreatment is critical to informing effective prevention. Poverty is an established risk factor for child maltreatment. However, recent research indicates that material hardship (i.e., difficulties meeting basic needs) may serve as a more direct measure of the way in which poverty affects daily life. One form of material hardship that is common among families is housing stress. Previous reviews have summarized the existing literature regarding the association of economic insecurity with child maltreatment, but no reviews have synthesized and critically evaluated the literature specific to the association of various types of housing stress with child maltreatment. We conducted a systematic search of multiple electronic databases to identify peer-reviewed studies conducted in the U.S. regarding the association of housing stress with child maltreatment. We identified 21 articles that used nine distinct measures of housing stress including homelessness or eviction, homeless or emergency shelter stays, foreclosure filing, housing instability, inadequate housing, physical housing risk, living doubled-up, housing unaffordability, and composite housing stress indicators. Overall, results from this body of literature indicate that housing stress is associated with an increased likelihood of caregiver or child self-reported maltreatment, child protective services (CPS) reports, investigated and substantiated CPS reports, out-of-home placements, and maltreatment death. Additional theory-driven research is needed to further our understanding of the contribution of specific types of housing stress to risk for specific types of maltreatment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Chandler

Austin

Shanahan

2020

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

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“…I n 2016, 1750 children or 2.36 per 100 000 children in the USA died from abuse or neglect (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2018a). A growing body of literature has identified child, family and household characteristics that place children at risk of experiencing a maltreatment death (Anderson et al, 1983;Douglas, 2015;Graham et al, 2010;Schnitzer and Ewigman, 2008;Stiffman et al, 2002;Yampolskaya et al, 2009). Additional research has examined child maltreatment fatalities (CMFs) through different social science theories (Douglas, 2015) and has also examined the use of social services to prevent CMFs (Chance and Scannapieco, 2002;Douglas, 2013;Douglas and Mohn, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A growing body of literature has identified child, family and household characteristics that place children at risk of experiencing a maltreatment death (Anderson et al, 1983;Douglas, 2015;Graham et al, 2010;Schnitzer and Ewigman, 2008;Stiffman et al, 2002;Yampolskaya et al, 2009). Additional research has examined child maltreatment fatalities (CMFs) through different social science theories (Douglas, 2015) and has also examined the use of social services to prevent CMFs (Chance and Scannapieco, 2002;Douglas, 2013;Douglas and Mohn, 2014). There is a modest level of research concerning the differences between abuse versus neglect-related deaths (Damashek et al, 2013;Douglas, 2014), which is important because abuse and neglect can result from different sets of risk factors (Stith et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Determining Child Maltreatment Fatalities: What Do We Really Know?

Douglas

Lee

2020

Child Abuse Review

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The challenges associated with determining causes of fatal child maltreatment have been documented by multiple professional fields and by the US government. This study explored these challenges, as well as the relative lethality of determinations of general neglect, medical neglect and physical abuse. Existing sources of information were used for this study: (1) data from the US National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data set extracted from annual Child Maltreatment reports published by the US Department of Health and Human Services; and (2) information published in recent state‐level child death review team (CDRT) reports. Results from the NCANDS data set indicated that more children died from general neglect (x̅ = 70.9%) than abuse (x̅ = 44.8%) or medical neglect (x̅ = 8.2%). Children who experienced medical neglect died at the highest rate (6.82 per 1000 medical neglect victims), making it the most lethal, followed by physical abuse and general neglect. The findings from CDRT reports were inconsistent, with some states indicating that more children died from abuse than neglect, which is in direct contrast to national statistics. The inconsistent and confusing use of language and constructs from CDRTs has important implications for multiple child‐serving fields.Key Practitioner Messages Professional child‐serving fields struggle with making accurate determinations of abuse or neglect‐related fatalities. Most child maltreatment fatalities are related to neglect. In terms of lethality, medical neglect appears to be most lethal, followed by physical abuse, and then general neglect. US‐state CDRT reports are not consistent in their use of terms and confuse constructs such as ‘neglect’ and ‘accident’. This makes it challenging to use their reviews as reliable sources of information. We recommend the adoption of consistency in the use and understanding of terms related to child maltreatment deaths, at a minimum across all jurisdictions in the USA, if not across all nations.

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“…This model explains that social/economic stressors, such as poverty, racism, low education, housing difficulties, domestic violence, and so forth, take a toll on families and place children at an increased risk for maltreatment (Jaffe, Campbell, Hamilton, & Juodis, 2012; Stith et al, 2009; World Health Organization, 2001). Research using varying methodology shows a strong link between poverty and being at an increased risk for nonfatal maltreatment (Merritt, 2009; Slack, Holl, McDaniel, Yoo, & Bolger, 2004), and one study found that many elements of the social/economic stress model were related to CMFs (Douglas, 2015). The social/economic stress model still is the foundation for the modern-day child welfare and social service system.…”

Section: The Social/economic Stress Model Of Child Maltreatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Department of Health & Human Services, 2015). Research has focused on child and family characteristics that are associated with risk and protective factors for child maltreatment fatalities (CMFs; Anderson, Ambrosino, Valentine, & Lauderdale, 1983; Schnitzer & Ewigman, 2008; Stiffman, Schnitzer, Adam, Kruse, & Ewigman, 2002), and a recent examination used social science theory to predict and explain CMFs (Douglas, 2015). There is only a small body of research that has examined the use of social services (Douglas, 2013; Douglas, 2014; Chance & Scannapieco, 2002) among CMF victims, but none of that research has used multivariate analyses, which would allow researchers to consider multiple factors at once in order to determine those which are most important and influential.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing if Social Services Prevent Fatal Child Maltreatment Among a Sample of Children Previously Known to Child Protective Services

Douglas

2016

Child Maltreat

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The purpose of this article was to examine the potential impact of child welfare services on the risk for fatal child maltreatment. This was conducted using a subsample of children who were identified as "prior victims" in the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System from 2008 to 2012. At the multivariate level, the analyses show that case management services act to protect children from death as do family support services, family preservation services, and foster care, but that the results vary by type of maltreatment experienced. The author recommends that before strong conclusions are drawn, additional research in this area is warranted.

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Using Theory to Examine Fatal Child Maltreatment Among a Sample of Children Known to Child Protective Services

Cited by 14 publications

References 42 publications

Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Association of Housing Stress With Child Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Challenges in Determining Child Maltreatment Fatalities: What Do We Really Know?

Testing if Social Services Prevent Fatal Child Maltreatment Among a Sample of Children Previously Known to Child Protective Services

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