Mental health articles

Identification of child sexual abuse The first area considered is society’s ability to identify child sexual abuse. Here presents data on sexual abuse that occurs within the general population and compares the data to that reflecting society’s ability to identify abuse. In other words, this table reflects society’s ability to adequately identify and respond to the problem of child sexual abuse. To present this comparison, two data columns are provided. The first, entitled “Identified Abuse,” presents data from national incidence studies. Because these studies capture all abuse coming to the attention of authorities, they represent the best information available concerning society’s response to sexual abuse. The next data column, “Committed Abuse,” reflects the best available estimates—deriving from random community, state, or national prevalence studies—of committed abuse known to occur in the general population. Data in this column were presented previously. Similarities in percentages between columns would suggest that society’s ability to identify victims of child sexual abuse is commensurate with that abuse estimated to occur within the general population (or that abuse estimated to occur as reflected by the empirical knowledge base). As such, similarities between columns would also suggest that society’s response to abuse is based upon assumptions brought forward from the empirical knowledge base. Conversely, discrepancies between columns would suggest that society’s ability to identify child sexual abuse: (a) is not commensurate with that abuse estimated to occur in the general population; and (b) is not based upon the empirical knowledge base. Here provides convincing evidence that the identification of child sexual abuse is extraordinarily biased. Four compelling biases stand out in this table. First,whereas 6.8/1,000 female children are identified yearly as having been sexually abused, it was estimated in Chapter 5 that between 25/1,000 and 40/1,000 female children are sexually abused yearly. Thus, only approximately 5% to 27% of all committed abuse is officially identified.1 Second, whereas 70% of all committed abuse is extrafamilial, only 21% of abuse identified by child protective services is extrafamilial. Further, the NIS-3 found that 46% of abuse was committed by offenders other than parents or parent substitutes (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996). Thus, the true percentage of identified extrafamilial abuse is at least 21% but less than 46%. The third compelling bias in society’s response to child sexual abuse is that 51% of all identified abuse is by a parental figure, as compared to only 7% to 8% of committed abuse that is by a parental figure (Russell, 1984; Wyatt, 1985). Further, although abuse by an uncle is the most prevalent type of intrafamilial abuse committed , the latest NCANDS incidence report does not even have a category for this type of perpetrator, suggesting that this type of intrafamilial abuse is infrequently identified (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000c). On the other hand, the only area in which the system's ability to identify abuse matches that of committed abuse is that by relatives (both male and female) other than parents.The final and most incredible disparity between identified abuse and committed abuse is the number of mothers identified as offenders. First, females are listed as offenders in 44% of all cases of identified abuse, although only 5% of offenders in committed abuse are female. Second, whereas mothers account for 0.05% of all abuse committed, 27% of all identified abuse is by mothers. Further, mothers are listed as primary offenders or co-offenders in more than half of all identified parental abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000c), as compared to 0.6% of committed parental abuse in retrospective populations.2 In other words, mothers are being identified at 540 times their rate of committed abuse.

Tags: child, sexual abuse