Publication year
2008
Citation Title
Trends in US Army child maltreatment reports: 1990-2004.
Journal Name
Child Abuse Review
Journal Volume
17
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
108-118
DOI
10.1002/car.986
Summary
The victim rates and severity of child maltreatment in U.S. Army families by the sex of the child and parent from 1990-2004 were presented. Data were drawn from the Army Central Registry (ACR), which is a complete list of all substantiated child maltreatment incidents. Overall, while neglect rates ebbed and flowed, emotional abuse had wider fluctuations, physical abuse rates decreased, and sexual abuse remained the lowest over the study time period.
Key Findings
Neglect rates were highest for the youngest children and decreased as age increased.
Emotional abuse rates were similar for boys and girls up to age 11 years old, but the rates for older girls were higher.
The rates of physical abuse and neglect were generally higher for boys than for girls up to the 11 years old when the rates reversed.
Male offenders were more likely to maltreat children (even excluding sexual abuse) than were female offenders and offenders of both sexes were more likely to abuse male children.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide activities for Service members that focus on relationship building with their children especially during their teenage years
Develop curriculum for Service members and their partners that focuses on the inclusion of targeted prevention of child neglect and abuse strategies
Offer additional child-care support during times of stress for Service members and their partners
Implications for Policy Makers
Build awareness across military branches around the importance of supporting and promoting effective parenting for Service members and their partners
Recommend education of professionals who work with military families (e.g., child caregivers, mental health, and education professionals) on the different types and subtypes of child maltreatment
Promote collaboration between DoD programs and local community organizations to support programs for Service members and their families that address healthy parent-child relationships
Methods
Data collected from the ACR of child and spouse abuse were organized by victim, offender, sex of both child and parent, and type and severity of maltreatment by year.
Population data were obtained from the Family Data Base (U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center).
Statistical analysis identified the severity by type of maltreatment, and compared cases of maltreatment by the sex and age of the victim and the sex of the parent perpetrator.
Participants
Ninety percent of child maltreatment perpetrators were parents: 56% of parental perpetrators were male and 44% were female.
Analyses of offenders included only parents of maltreated children.
Between 1990 and 2004, there were 47,473 child maltreatment victims, 50,327 cases of child maltreatment and 54,341 total maltreatments of the child victims with 91% of the child victims only having one case.
Limitations
Only the U.S. Army registry was analyzed; therefore, the results may not be generalizable to child maltreatment in other military service communities.
The focus of this study was on substantiated cases of child maltreatment which limits the understanding of risk and protective mechanisms among non-substantiated cases of maltreatment.
Data for this study were from cases filed between 1994-2004, a time of low reintegration; which could bias the outcomes.
Avenues for Future Research
Explore the effects of military branches increased support of the military family on rates of maltreatment
Identify the contingencies that need to be changed across military branches to reduce child neglect during deployments and in other stressful circumstances
Establish the interaction of protective influences and chronic violence exposure in military-connected children of differing ages
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
We present the victim rates and severity of child maltreatment in US Army families by the sex of the child and parent from 1990Ð2004. Neglect rates decreased from a high point in 1991 to a low in 2000, but by 2004 the rates had increased to about the 1991 level. During two large-scale deployments of the US Army to the Middle East (1991 and 2002Ð2004), the rates of neglect increased. Neglect rates were highest for the youngest children and decreased as age increased. Physical abuse rates decreased from 1990Ð2004, but the decline was slowed during 2001Ð04. Physical abuse was more severe by male offenders. Emotional abuse showed wide fluctuations in rates. Emotional abuse rates were similar for boys and girls up to age 11, but the rates for older girls were higher. Sexual abuse had the lowest rates throughout the time of this report, decreasing from about 0.5/1000 to about 0.1/1000. The rates of physical abuse and neglect were generally higher for boys than for girls up to the teenage years when the rates reversed. Male offenders were more likely to maltreat children (even excluding sexual abuse) than were female offenders and offenders of both sexes were more likely to abuse male children. We provide suggestions for practice, prevention and research in child maltreatment.
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