Historically, unless injuries required the care of a physician, no one questioned parents’ treatment of their children. Infanticide is still widely practiced in many cultures as a means of population control. Sexual abuse also has an early history in many cultures, dating back to 1548 in England. A common problem in Western societies plagued with poverty was the abandonment of children. The children’s rights movement, which began in the United States in the 1870's, brought the problem of child abuse and neglect to the center of the Nation’s social agenda. How child abuse and neglect is viewed and handled varies from place to place and over time. The importance of mapping child abuse and neglect data is essentially the identification of problematic areas and the initiation of a theory process for the purposes of possible social intervention. The collection process and reporting procedures of child abuse and neglect are not universally standard. Reasons for child abuse and neglect include poverty, substance abuse, social isolation, and residence in areas with limited or no services and facilities. Most reports of child maltreatment for 1996 came from professionals, with those in education being the most frequent reporters. Washington, D.C. had the highest rate of reports of child maltreatment. Nearly 3 million children were suspected as victims in the United States, but only an estimated 1 million were confirmed as being victims. In 1996, neglect comprised 52 percent of the total number of cases; physical abuse 24 percent; sexual abuse 12 percent; emotional maltreatment 6 percent; and medical neglect 3 percent. Most of the geographic patterns found displayed both random and non-random distributions. Areas of clustering appeared in several parts of the country, with the West and Midwest noticed repeatedly for high incidence. The region lowest in incidence rates appeared to be the Great Plains. An area with a low rate may be a result of the low reporting rate rather than an indication of a safer environment. 6 figures, 28 references