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Comparison of U.S. Army and Civilian Substantiated Reports of Child Maltreatment

NCJ Number
204163
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 103-110
Author(s)
James E. McCarroll; Robert J. Ursano; Zizhong Fan; John H. Newby
Date Published
February 2004
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study compared the types of maltreatment or the rates of child maltreatment for the U.S. Army with those of the U.S. civilian population.
Abstract
The study compared the relevant data compiled by the U.S. Army Family Advocacy Program (FAP) and the aggregated data on child abuse and neglect maintained by the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The variables included in the analysis of substantiated child maltreatment cases included the type of maltreatment and victim rates per 1,000; the child's age, sex, and ethnicity; and the relation of the perpetrator to the child victim. The rates were compared for the two populations from 1995 to 1999. The overall rates of child maltreatment in the U.S. civilian population (14.7 to 11.8 per 1,000) were approximately double the Army rates (7.6 to 6.0 per 1,000) from 1995 to 1999. These differences were due largely to the higher rate of neglect in the U.S. civilian data. This could be explained by the efforts of the Army to address poverty, severe substance abuse, homelessness, and other social variables. The rate of victimization of Black and American-Indian children in the civilian population was three times that of the Army; and the rate of child victimization of Whites and Hispanics was twice as great in the civilian population. Female parents were the highest percentage of perpetrators in the civilian population. The percentage of male parents who were perpetrators was twice as large in the Army compared with the civilian population. Some possible explanations for the findings are discussed. 2 tables, 10 figures, and 5 references

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