NCJ Number
183731
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Rates of child maltreatment in the United States continue to increase in many areas, public agencies are pushed beyond their capacity to respond, and the link between poverty and child maltreatment continues to be a significant feature of the problem.
Abstract
In the current socioeconomic climate, family poverty has been increasing and, in urban areas, is becoming more geographically concentrated in segregated neighborhoods. The problem of child maltreatment is getting worse in these urban areas of concentrated poverty. Child maltreatment is a symptom not just of individual or family trouble but of neighborhood and community trouble as well. The central challenge is to deal with the aggregation of negative social indicators in urban areas when planning and implementing child abuse prevention initiatives. These initiatives should aim to reduce negative social indicators by considering the significance of poverty and social disorganization. 47 references