The problem of child abuse is serious and real, but the
solutions have been phony. Child savers misstate the nature and extent of child
abuse in America in order to gain public support for phony solutions. A first
step toward real solutions is understanding what the numbers really mean.
The
most commonly-used number concerning child abuse is the number of children
investigated as possible abuse victims as a result of "reports" to
state child protection hotlines.
According to the most recent such survey, about three million children
were the subjects of these investigations.
But
more than two million of those children were subjects of reports that turned
out to be false.[1] And of the rest, those labeled
"substantiated" or "indicated" by protective workers,
relatively few are the kind that leap to mind when we hear the words
"child abuse. By far the largest
category was "neglect".
Often, these are cases in which the primary problem is a family's
poverty. (See New Issue Papers 5 and 6).
In
fact, out of every 100 children investigated as possible victims of abuse, at
least 66 simply weren't - the report was false. 18 were
"substantiated" victims of neglect, 6 were victims of all forms of
physical abuse, from the most minor to the most severe, 3 were victims of
sexual abuse and two were victims of psychological maltreatment. The rest fall into a category listed as
"other." [2]
Widely-quoted
data from studies also sometimes are taken out of context. For example, Prevent Child Abuse America,
formerly the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, declares that a
Denver study of sexual abuse allegations "found that only eight percent of
reports were false." [3] In other literature, the figure
from that study has been given as six percent. (The difference depends on
whether cases in which the researchers could make no determination were
included when percentages were computed).
In
fact, whether one uses six percent or eight percent, that figure applies only
to malicious falsehoods. The researchers found that an additional 17 percent of
the reports were made in good faith but also turned out to be false. And in
another 24 percent of the cases the researchers could not determine if the
report was true or not. [4] Thus, what this study actually
found was that at least 23 percent and possibly as many as 47 percent of all
sexual abuse allegations are false. Furthermore, to be considered true in this
study, a report needed only to meet the standard used by most child protective
agencies -- that there be "some credible evidence" of abuse, even if
there is more evidence that there was no abuse.
Some
numbers are repeated so often that people are surprised to find how little data
there are supporting them. Studies attempting to estimate the percentage of
people sexually abused during childhood have come up with results ranging from
one percent to 62 percent. [5] In addition, these studies use
widely varying definitions of abuse, and usually include abuse by anyone, not
just cases subject to the jurisdiction of child protective services.
But
because large numbers attract more attention than small numbers, the claim
appears repeatedly that "one out of three girls and one out of ten boys
will be sexually abused" during childhood.
The
best evidence we have concerning the true prevalence of sexual abuse comes from
a review of 20 different studies conducted by seven Canadian researchers. They
found that the studies with the best methodology consistently found that
between 10 and 12 percent of girls under age 14 are sexually abused by someone
(not necessarily a parent or guardian) during their childhoods. The study that
produced the "one out of three" claim was singled out for criticism
by these researchers. [6]
That
10 to 12 percent figure, like all of the best evidence concerning the true
extent of child abuse in America, is cause for concern and action. The real numbers are bad enough. Exaggeration
serves only to panic us into seeking "solutions" that hurt the very
children they were intended to help. More examples of the harm of "erring
on the side of the child" can be found in Issue Paper 5 and in Family Preservation Issue Paper 3.
1. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Child
Maltreatment 2001. Available online at
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/cm01/ The document refers to
the largest category of cases as "unsubstantiated" but for reasons
discussed in the next issue paper, those cases are almost certainly false
reports.. Back to Text.
2. Ibid. Back to Text.
3. Jon R. Conte, A Look at Child Sexual Abuse (Chicago: Prevent
Child Abuse America) p.12. Back to Text.
4. David P.H. Jones and J. Melbourne McGraw,
"Reliable and Fictitious Accounts of Sexual Abuse to Children,"
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol.2 No. 1, March, 1987, pp.27-45. Back to Text.
5. These studies are cited in Diana Russell, The Secret
Trauma: Incest in the Lives of Girls and Women (New York: Basic Books, 1986),
pp.72. Back to Text.
6.
William Feldman et. al., "Is Childhood Sexual Abuse Really Increasing in
Prevalence?" An Analysis of the Evidence, Pediatrics, Vol. 88, No. 1,
July, 1991, pp.29-33. Back to Text.