Gender differences in abused children with and without disabilities

doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(97)00033-1

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 21, Issue 8, August 1997, Pages 707-720

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(97)00033-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: Two questions were posed: (1) What are the proportions of boys and girls in various categories of substantiated child abuse? (2) Do the gender proportions differ for children with and without disabilities?

Method: Data collected by previous researchers from a demographically representative sample of U.S. child abuse reporting districts was analyzed. This included 1,249 case files involving 1,834 children. The number of girls and boys who did and did not have disabilities was identified for three age categories and for several categories of abuse. Chi-square analyses were used to determine whether there was a relationship between disability and gender for the various age and abuse categories.

Results: More boys were physically abused and neglected, but more girls were sexually abused. Boys with disabilities, however, were over-represented in all categories of abuse. Moreover, gender proportions among abused children with disabilities differed significantly from those found among other abused children. Although slightly more than half of abused children without disabilities were girls, 65% of abused children with disabilities were boys.

Conclusions: Boys represented a significantly larger proportion of physically abused, sexually abused, and neglected children with disabilities than would be expected from their respective proportion of abused and neglected children without disabilities. Several possible explanations for the observed gender and disability status interaction are discussed.

Résumé

Objectif: On a posé deux questions: (1) Dans quelle proportion les garçons et les filles subissent-ils des mauvais traitements qui ont été confirmés et (2) Ces proportions varient-elles selon que les garçons et les filles sont handicapés?

Méthode: On a analysé des données recueillies dans des études antérieures dont les échantillons représentaient les aspects démographiques de la population. Ces échantillons comprenaient 1.249 dossiers portant sur 1.834 enfants. On a identifié le nombre de garçons et de filles avec ou sand handicaps, pour trois groupes d'âge et pour quelques types de mauvais traitements. On a cherchéà déterminer s'il existait un lien entre le sexe et le handicap, selon chaque âge et chaque type de mauvais traitements.

Résultats: Les garçons étaient plus souvent victimes de mauvais traitements et de négligence, alors que les filles étaient plus souvent agresees sexuellement. Les garçons handicapés étaient toutefois plus souvent représentés dans toutes les catégories. De plus, parmi les enfants handicapés, les proportions selon le sexe vétaient très différentes de celles qu'on retrouva parmi les enfants non handicapés. Plus de la moitié des enfants abusés sans handicap vétaient des filles, tandis que 65 p.c. des enfants handicapés et maltraités étaient des garçons.

Conclusions: Les garçons représentent une proportion beaucoup plus considérable d'enfants négligvés et abusés physiquement et sexuellement qu'on aurait cru, comparé aux enfants non handicapés et pareillement abusés. Les auteurs proposent plusieurs explications possibles concernant les liens entre les handicaps et le sexe.

Resumen

Objetivo: el estudio se plantea con el objetivo de responder a dos preguntas: (1) Cuáles son las proporciones de niños y de niñas en las diferentes categorías de maltrato infantil corroborado? y (2) difieren las proporciones de género para los niños con y sin minusvalías?

Método: Se analizaron una serie de datos acumulados a partir de investigaciones previas realizadas en una muestra demgráficamente representativa de los distritos de USA notificadores de maltrato infantil. Esta muestra está compuesta de 1249 expedientes que incluyen 1834 niños. Se identificó el número de niños y de niñas que tenian o no minusvalías para cada una de tres categorias de edad y para varias categorías de maltrato. Se utilizaron análisis Chi-cuadrado para determinar si había una relación entre la minusvalía y el género para varis categorías de edad y de maltrato.

Resultados: Los niños fueron más frecuentemente víctimas de maltrato físico y de negligencia, mientras que las niñas fueron más frecuentemente víctimas de abuso sexual. Sin embargo, los niños con minusvalías estaban sobrerrepresentados en todas las categorías de maltrato. Además, las proporciones de género entre los maltratados con minvalías diferían de manera significativa de las proporciones encontradas entre los maltratados sin minusvalías. A pesar de que algo más de la mitad de los maltratados sin minusvalías eran niñas, el 65% de los maltratados con minusvalías eran niños.

Conclusiones: De entre los sujetos con minusvalías que son víctimas de maltrato físico, negligencia y abuso sexual, los niños varones representan una proporción más alta de lo que se pudiera esperar en comparación con las víctimas de maltrato físico, negligencia y abuso sexual que no sufren ninguna minusvalía. Se discuten varias posibles explicaciones sobre esta interacción observada del género y la minusvalía.

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^☆: This study was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

^☆☆: Funding support for preparing the data for public distribution was provided by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.

^★: The data was provided by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. This data was originally collected by Scott B. Crosse and Alexander C. Ratnofsky (Westat, Inc.) and Elyse Kaye (James Bell Associates, Inc.).

^★★: The opinions expressed are those of the authors. Neither the collector of the original data, the funding agency, nor the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect bears any responsibility for the analysis or interpretations presented here.

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Gender differences in abused children with and without disabilities☆,☆☆,★,★★

Abstract

Résumé

Resumen

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Highlights of official child neglect and abuse reporting, 1984

Maltreatment of children with disabilities

Epidemiology and family characteristics of severely abused children

British Journal of Preventative and Social Medicine

A report on the maltreatment of children with disabilities

Child sexual abusers; recognition and response

Disabled women and violence

The international epidemiology of child sexual abuse

Child Abuse & Neglect

A profile of violence toward children in the United States