Active surveillance of child abuse fatalities

Schloesser, Patricia T.; Pierpont, John; Poertner, John

doi:10.1016/0145-2134(92)90003-a

Cited by 59 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…However, the manner of death changed with age: as victims grew older, the means of death became more violent. This result is consistent with previous studies that have found the majority of infanticide cases to have been caused by head injuries (e.g., Hargrave & Warner, 1992;Hicks & Gaughan, 1995;Jacquot & Roberts, 1988;Schloesser et al, 1992), and the majority of filicide cases to have been caused by gunshot or stabbing (Christoffel et al, 1989;Jason, 1983).…”

Section: Victimssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Further, since fatal abuse occurs in less than 1 out of every 2000 child-abuse cases (Trocme & Lindsey, 1996), a completely adequate sample may not be practical. Furthermore, none of the previous studies on fatal abuse with larger sample sizes examined military populations, and few of these studies had as many factors as the present study (e.g., Christoffel, Anzinger, & Merrill, 1989;Daly & Wilson, 1994;Ewigman, Kivlahan, & Land, 1993;Hargrave & Warner, 1992;Schloesser et al, 1992;Starling, Holden, & Jenny, 1995).…”

Section: Methodological Problemsmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…This gender difference is consistent with Finkelhor and Dziuba-Letherman's (1994) conjecture that males have an increasing risk to be victims of fatal abuse with increasing age. Although some reports (e.g., US Department of Health and Human Services, 1997) and studies (e.g., Anderson, Ambrosino, Valentine, & Lauderdale, 1983;Goetting, 1988;Margolin, 1990;Schmidt, Grab, & Madea, 1996) have shown the majority of fatal abuse victims to be male, the gender of fatal abuse victims generally varies in the research literature as being either predominately female or equally male and female (e.g., Brewster et al, 1998;Hicks & Gaughan, 1995;Jason & Andereck, 1983;Schloesser, Pierpont, & Poertner, 1992). The findings of the present study suggest that one possible reason for the victim gender differences in published reports and studies may be because of varying definitions of filicide.…”

Section: Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The likelihood of the perpetrator being a stepfather or other nonbiological male parental figure increased with increasing age. Prior studies are mixed on whether the father (e.g., Hicks & Gaughan, 1995;Schloesser et al, 1992) or the mother (e.g., Barlow & Clayton, 1996;Bonnet, 1993;Goetting, 1988;Jason, 1983;Korbin, 1987;Schloesser et al, 1992;Schmidt et al, 1996) is the most likely perpetrator of fatal abuse. However, previous studies show that fathers are the most likely perpetrators to be involved in more violent causes of death (e.g., gunshot, severe head trauma, stabbing, etc.…”

Section: Perpetratormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Lucas

Wezner

Milner

et al. 2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Objective: The present study describes factors related to fatal abuse in three age groups in the United States Air Force (USAF). Method: Records from 32 substantiated cases of fatal child abuse in the USAF were independently reviewed for 60 predefined factors. Results: Males were over-represented in young child victims (between 1 year and 4 years of age) and child victims (between 4 years and 15 years of age) but not in infant victims (between 24 hours and 1 year of age). African-American infant victims and perpetrators were over-represented. Younger victims were more likely to have been previously physically abused by the perpetrator. Perpetrators were predominantly male and the biological fathers of the victims. Infant and young child perpetrators reported childhood abuse histories, while child perpetrators reported the highest frequency of mental health contact. Victims' families reported significant life stressors. Families of young child victims were more likely divorced, separated, or single. Incidents with infants and young children tended to occur without witnesses; incidents with child victims tended to have the victim's sibling(s) and/or mother present. Fatal incidents were more frequent on the weekend, in the home, and initiated by some family disturbance. Conclusions: Differences among groups in factors related to infant and child homicide across age groups may assist in the development of more tailored abuse prevention efforts and may also guide future investigations.

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Section: Victimssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Methodological Problemsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Victimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Perpetratormentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Lucas

Wezner

Milner

et al. 2002

Child Abuse & Neglect

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“…Other studies of underascertainment have used a single source of data, 8 did not review all child deaths for the possibility of maltreatment, 1-4,8 -10 or used a definition of maltreatment that considered only physical abuse. 4 Our study makes use of comprehensive data collected by a formal child fatality review process to assess underascertainment by death certificates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underascertainment of Child Maltreatment Fatalities by Death Certificates, 1990–1998

et al. 2002

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ABSTRACT. Objective. Child fatality review teams have emerged across the United States in the past decade to address the concern that systems of child protection, law enforcement, criminal justice, and medicine do not adequately assess the circumstances surrounding child fatality as a result of maltreatment.Methods. We compared data collected by a multidisciplinary child fatality review team with vital records for all children who were aged birth to 16 years and died in Colorado between January 1, 1990, and December 1, 1998. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for ascertainment by the death certificate were estimated using logistic regression.Results. Only half of the children who died as a result of maltreatment had death certificates that were coded consistently with maltreatment. Black race and female gender were associated with higher ascertainment, whereas death in a rural county was associated with lower ascertainment. Deaths resulting from violent causes (eg, shaking, blunt force trauma, striking) were more likely to be ascertained than those that involved acts of omission (eg, neglect and abandonment, drowning, fire). The most common perpetrators of maltreatment were parents. However, maltreatment by an unrelated perpetrator was 8.71 times (95% confidence interval: 3.52-21.55) more likely to be ascertained than maltreatment by a parent.Conclusions. The degree of underascertainment found in this study is of concern because most national estimates of child maltreatment fatality in the United States are derived from coding on death certificates. In addition, the patterns recognized in this study raise concern about systematic underascertainment that may affect children of specific sociodemographic groups. Pediatrics 2002;110(2). URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/ cgi/content/full/110/2/e18; child abuse, death certificates, vital statistics, mortality, infant mortality, data collection, public health, records, logistic models, statistical models, cause of death, child welfare, battered child syndrome, child advocacy, infanticide.ABBREVIATIONS. CFRC, child fatality review committee; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; SES, socioeconomic status. T here has long been concern regarding the adequacy of death certificates in determining the magnitude of fatalities from child abuse and neglect. Previous studies have estimated that between 52% and 85% of maltreatment fatalities are misidentified as attributable to accidents, natural causes, or other unknown causes. [1][2][3][4] In 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that death certificates were an uncertain source of data on child maltreatment fatalities and recommended modifying the system to make identification easier. 3 However, these changes have not occurred. The inability of any one system of child protection, law enforcement, health, or criminal justice to recognize, track, and assess the circumstances of child maltreatment deaths has led to the development of interagency multidisciplinary child fatality review teams ac...

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2007

Unexpected Death in Childhood

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Active surveillance of child abuse fatalities

Cited by 59 publications

References 3 publications

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

Underascertainment of Child Maltreatment Fatalities by Death Certificates, 1990–1998

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