Do Your Own Private Investigations
By: Wesley McBride
Child Neglect
Child Abuse
Child Abuse: The abuse can be physical, sexual, economic, emotional, or mental.
Sadly, a child is most likely to be abused or neglected by the people closest to them, including parents. More than 70% of child sex abuse cases involve a relative, friend, or someone else close to the child.
Child Abuse & Neglect Statistics (2012)
Who were the child victims:
* Boys accounted for 48.7 percent and girls accounted for 50.9 percent of victims. Fewer than 1.0 percent of victims were of unknown sex.
* The majority of victims were comprised of three races or ethnicities—White (44.0%), Hispanic (21.8%), and African-American (21.0%).
What where the most common types of maltreatment:
As in prior years, neglect was the most common form of child maltreatment. CPS investigations determined the following (all of the following numbers refer to unique victims):
* More than 75 percent (78.3%) suffered neglect
* More than 15 percent (18.3%) suffered physical abuse
* Fewer than 10 percent (9.3%) suffered sexual abuse
How many children died from abuse or neglect?:
Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment.
The national rate of child fatalities was 2.20 deaths per 100,000 children.
* Nearly three-quarters (70.3%) of all child fatalities were younger than 3 years old.
* Boys had a higher child fatality rate than girls at 2.54 boys per 100,000 boys in the population.Girls died of abuse and neglect at a rate of 1.94 per 100,000 girls in the
population.
* Nearly 90 percent (85.5%) of child fatalities were comprised of White (38.3%), African-American (31.9%), and Hispanic (15.3%) victims.
* Four-fifths (80.0%) of child fatalities were caused by one or both parents.
Who abused and neglected the children?:
* Four-fifths (82.2%) of perpetrators were between the ages of 18 and 44 years.
* More than one-half (53.5%) of perpetrators were women, 45.3 percent of perpetrators were men, and 1.1 percent were of unknown sex.
Using a duplicated count of perpetrators, meaning a perpetrator is counted each time the same perpetrator is associated with maltreating a child, the total duplicated count of
perpetrators was 893,659. For 2012:
* Four-fifths (80.3%) of duplicated perpetrators were parents.
* Of the duplicated perpetrators who were parents, 88.5 percent were the biological parents.
Source: https://www.childwelfare.gov/
Signs of Possible Physical Abuse:
* Unexplained bruises in various stages of healing.
* Self-destructive behaviors.
* Welts, human bite marks, bald spots,bruises, broken bones, or black eyes.
* Unexplained burns - especially cigarette burns or glove-like burns.
* Unexplained fractures, injuries or abrasions.
* Nervousness, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, disruptive and destructive
behaviors.
* Unusual wariness of physical contact.
* Fear of parent or caretaker.
* Lack of expressed emotion.
* Unduly shy, withdrawn and passive.
* Shows sudden changes in behavior.
* Begins to under-perform at School.
* Becomes unusually pessimistic.
* Protests or cries when it is time to be alone with certain people.
* Shrinks in the presence of adults; or is overly obedient.
* Cowers at sudden movements or loud noises.
Signs of Possible Neglect:
* Abandonment by parent or caregiver.
* Unattended medical needs (Is in need of medical or dental care).
* Consistent lack of supervision.
* Consistent hunger, inappropriate dressed for the weather.
* Is repeated unwashed and has body odor -- poor hygiene.
* Appears hungry or malnourished.
* Lice, distended stomach.
* Poor social skills.
* Indiscriminate about his/her affection.
* Pale, listless, begs or steals food or money, steals necessities.
* Frequent absences from school.
* Falls asleep in class, regularly displays fatigue.
* Self-destructive behaviors.
Signs of Possible Sexual Abuse:
* Exhibiting sexual behaviors that are not appropriate for the child's age.
* A detailed and sophisticated understanding of sexual behavior.
* Reversion to behaviors such as bed-wetting, speech loss and thumb-sucking.
* Sleep disturbances or nightmares.
* Pain, itching, bruising or bleeding in the genital area.
* Venereal disease.
* Frequent urinary tract or yeast infections.
* Exhibiting delinquent or aggressive behaviors.
* Showing signs of depression.
* Displaying self-injurious behaviors such as substance abuse, self-mutilation,
suicide attempts, prostitution or running away.
* Has difficulty walking or sitting.
* Suddenly refuses to remove clothing or take a bath.
Negative behaviors associated with child abusers:
* Intimidation using size, authority.
* Instilling fear through menacing looks and property destruction.
* Screaming.
* Displays of Violence against others, pets.
* Threatening Punishment by God, Police, Foster home.
* Threats of abandonment, physical harm or confinement.
* Brain washing and manipulation.
* Emotional Abuse.
* Name calling.
* Shaming.
* Inconsistent parenting.
* Economic Abuse.
* Withholding child support or basic needs to control behavior.
* Treating child as a servant.
* Isolation from friends, siblings, grandparents.
* Bossing or constantly interrupting.
* Sexual inappropriateness.
Sexual Abuse
Negative Behaviors Associated with Child Abusers
Child Neglect & Abuse Investigations
Emotional Abuse
Signs of Possible Emotional Abuse:
* Speech disorders.
* Delayed physical or emotional development.
* Ulcers, asthma, severe allergies.
* Habit disorders such as sucking or rocking.
* Unduly passive and undemanding.
* Extremely demanding, aggressive or angry behavior.
* Antisocial, destructive attitude.
* Depressed or suicidal tendencies.
* Attention-seeking activities.
* Delinquent behavior - especially in adolescents.