Chapter 6 Estimates of current prevalence and incidence o Family violence is a very serious societal problem o No definitive data exists on the extent of abuse and neglect in families o Prevalence How often something occurs o Incidence The occurrence rate or frequency of a disease crime or something o Epidemiology The branch of medicine that deals with the incidence distribution else undesirable and control of diseases Child maltreatment caregivers o 905 000 children were considered victims of maltreatment by parents or 142 041 16 physical abuse 567 787 64 1 neglect 78 120 8 8 sexual abuse 58 577 6 6 psychological maltreatment Remainder medical neglect or other forms of maltreatment o Emotional abuse was the most common form of maltreatment o There is more physical abuse than neglect 15 per 1000 vs 11 per 1000 Dating and courtship violence o Prevalence of nonsexual courtship violence ranged from 9 65 Partner abuse o From 1993 2005 partner violence against women has decreased from 1 1 million 5 8 per 1000 to 564 392 2 3 per 1000 o Men also has a partner violence decrease from 1993 2005 from 162 870 1 6 per 1000 to 153 737 9 per 1000 o Woman experience more partner violence than men o Women also experienced more stalking victimization than men o 52 of women reported experienced physical assault as a child or adult o 56 of women reported any form of violence including stalking rape or physical assault o The rates of forms of violence less likely to cause an injury pushing grabbing shoving or slapping were the highest o Rates of the most severe forms of violence gun knife or beat up were the lowest Homicide of intimates and children other way around in 2005 o More wives and girlfriends were killed by their husbands or boyfriends then the Husbands and boyfriends killed by girlfriends or wives 329 Wives and girlfriends killed by husbands or boyfriends 1182 This number has declined since 1993 Elder abuse In 2006 1530 children were killed by parents or caregivers highest rate o In 1996 450 000 elderly persons living in a domestic setting were abused or neglected they represent a vulnerable population Siblings parents gays lesbians and transgendered couples o Physical fights between brothers and sisters are by far the most common form of family violence o 35 of children reported physical abuse the year before at the hand of a sibling o Boys and girls equally likely to be a victim of sibling violence o In 2002 119 murders involved perpetrators and victims that were siblings Nearly three quarters 72 of sibling murders were brother on brother while 14 were brothers killing sisters o Between 750 000 and a million parents each year have violent acts committed against them by their teenage children o Non heterosexual gay lesbian and transgendered couples couples have partner violence also Witnessing domestic violence o Children were in the homes of 38 of female victims of domestic violence and 21 of male victims of domestic violence o Children who witnessed acts of domestic violence experience negative behavioral and developmental outcomes independent of any abuse or neglect that they may also experience from their caretakers The cost of family violence o Wang and Holton 2007 have estimated that child abuse and neglect have cost those involved approx 103 8 billion This is based on the immediate needs of victims and indirect costs juvenile delinquency mental healthcare special education adult criminal costs etc as well as long term costs o U S centers for disease control and prevention 2003 estimate that the cost of intimate partner assault rape and stalking has exceeded 5 8 billion Of this amount 4 1 billion was for direct medical and mental health services 9 billion was lost productivity from paid work and household work and 9 billion was in lifetime earnings as a result of homicide o The long term consequences for child abuse and neglect depend on the age at which the abuse or neglect occurs Childhood some of the major consequences of maltreatment problematic school performance and lowered attention to social cues Children whose parents are psychologically unavailable function poorly across a wide range of psychological cognitive and developmental areas Adults or adolescents that were abused as children most commonly display physical aggression antisocial behavior and juvenile delinquency Childhood maltreatment increases individual s later risk of alcohol and drug use problems o Consequences of childhood sexual abuse victims Inappropriate sexual behavior such as frequent and overt sexual stimulation and inappropriate sexual overtures to other children is often found among victims Higher risk of arrest for committing crimes as adults including sex crimes than are people that weren t sexually abused Risk is no greater than the risk of arrest for victims of childhood maltreatment One exception arrests for prostitution are higher for sexual abuse victims o Majority of children who are abused and neglected show no signs of extreme disturbance because many children can cop effectively o Factors that influence effects of child maltreatment Child s intelligence level and scholastic attainment Child s temperament Child s cognitive appraisal of the events Child s relationship with a significant person Types of interventions used to end the maltreatment Including child s placement outside the home o Female victims of domestic assault consequences High incidence of depression and anxiety Increased risk of suicide attempts o For society the costs of family violence include time lost from work by victims medical care that victims require and the investment of resources from social and criminal justice agencies Factors associated with family violence o Problems with the psychopathological or mental illness model of family violence 1 Most conclusions are made from limited number of cases typically without comparison groups and draw conclusions after the data are collected and draw conclusions after the data collection rather than before by testing a hypothesis 2 This confuses the cause with consequence people who abuse their partners are mentally ill when we already know this because they wouldn t have done it if they weren t 3 Ignores the fact that certain societal factors are related to family violence Sex and gender differences o Mothers are more likely than fathers to abuse or kill their children National Research Council 1998 and the US Dept of Health and Human Services 2008 Mothers are perpetrators