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Substantiation of Reported Child Abuse or Neglect: Predictors and Implications

NCJ Number
140040
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 16 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1992) Pages: 661-671
Author(s)
H R Winefield; P W Bradley
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
All 3,228 reports of child abuse registered in South Australia between 1988 and 1989 were studied to identify the determinants used by child protection workers in their decision to register an incident as being one of child abuse and neglect. The study aimed to measure the extent of any overreporting in South Australia by examining the frequency with which notified cases were found to be unsubstantiated and to compare substantiation rates across sources of report.
Abstract
The overall substantiation rate of cases registered as either child abuse or neglect was 56.3 percent; 13.2 percent were not registered but were referred on with other problems and 30.6 percent were closed without registration or referral. Reports originated from lay sources, medical and social workers, teachers, and police. The average age of children in these reported cases was 7.5 years. More than half were female, nearly 30 percent were subjects of a previous notification, and over 87 percent were white. Signs of physical injury were found in 24 percent of the cases, while definite signs of sexual abuse were found in 22 percent. Registration was associated with the source of the report, occurring most often when reports came from victims, police, social workers, or teachers and less often when originating from nurses or unrelated nonprofessionals. There was a positive relationship between judged severity and the likelihood of registration. Logistic regression showed that the age of the alleged victim and the caseworker's perception of severity were the two significant predictors of registration. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 26 references