The Psychology of Trauma

Child Abuse

Who commits child abuse?

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2007 statistics, parents were the most frequent perpetrators of child abuse in the cases reported to the authorities. The mother was the perpetrator in 38.7 percent of the cases, and the mother plus another person in 5.7 percent of the cases. The father was the perpetrator in 17.9 percent of the cases, the father plus another person in 0.9 percent of the cases, and the mother and father together in 16.8 percent of the cases. Day care staff accounted for 0.5 percent of the cases, friend/neighbors 0.4 percent, female relatives 1.7 percent, and male relatives 3.1 percent. Unrelated romantic partners of the parents also accounted for a small percent of the cases reported. Male partners accounted for 2.3 percent and female partners 1.7 percent.



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