U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Adolescent Maltreatment: Incidence and Risk

NCJ Number
107122
Author(s)
W M Holmes; L J Olsen
Date Published
Unknown
Length
100 pages
Annotation
This study examined how the maltreatment of adolescents differs from the maltreatment of younger children, what influences on maltreatment are the same for adolescents as for younger children, and how the ecological context of the family encourages or suppresses the maltreatment of adolescents.
Abstract
Data from the 1980 National Study of the Incidence and Severity of Child Abuse and Neglect were reanalyzed with a focus on adolescents. Interpersonal factors were measured by survey data describing developmental problems of the caretaker or child, prior maltreatment history, and caretaker illness. Structural features were measured by data on parents' employment, marital disruption, number of children in the household, child-perpetrator relationship, income level, and ethnicity. Outcomes were measured by data on the nature of maltreatment, its severity, and the source of information for the report of maltreatment. Data on community characteristics came from both the survey data and the 1980 census. Adolescents composed almost half of all cases of abuse and neglect, being particularly vulnerable to emotional and sexual abuse. Adolescent abuse involved a constellation of factors different from that of young children who were abused. Families of maltreated adolescents tended to be from higher socioeconomic brackets, suffered marital disruption, and lived in urban communities. Recommendations pertain to the problems and service needs of adolescents and the identification of high-risk communities in which services should be offered. 7 figures, 18 tables, and 67 references.