The Incidence and Prevalence of Child Maltreatment

Data sources for the development of credible estimates of the prevalence and incidence of various forms of child maltreatment, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect, are as yet underdeveloped. The National Incidence Study and American Humane Association reports provide incidence estimates, and upper and lower bounds for prevalence estimates can be obtained by extrapolation from these incidence estimates. Victimization by various forms of child maltreatment is distressingly common and is especially likely to occur in low-income households. Most individual incidents are not in themselves highly serious but may be indicators of underlying family stresses. Many practitioners are skeptical about the wisdom of "criminalizing" child maltreatment, and, perhaps as a result, most studies on patterns of reporting show that many suspected maltreatment incidents go unreported. There is considerable evidence that active delinquents are disproportionately likely to have suffered maltreatment.