Abuse Across the Life Course

A trial began in Dallas Wednesday for a man accused of locking his girlfriend’s children in a hotel bathroom and starving them for up to nine months….

The man charged in the case, Alfred Santiago, had lived in the hotel room with the children’s mother, Abneris Santiago. The two share a last name, but were not married. A fourth child, a 1-year-old girl who was Alfred Santiago’s biological daughter, was found healthy and unharmed…. A doctor has said the children appeared to have been starved and that their condition was life-threatening. The 11-year-old said she had been sexually assaulted, and the eldest son was covered in bruises from a beating authorities said was delivered by his mother’s boyfriend.

—“Trial Begins for Dallas Father Accused of Starving Kids,” Associated Press, July 21, 2010

This chapter will focus on various aspects of child abuse. We will include discussions of parental abuse of children, sibling abuse, sexual abuse, and abuse by nonrelatives that impacts family life—for example, abuse by caregivers, clergy, coaches, and other mentors. In addition to reviewing trends and data on various forms of child abuse, we will review the theories that have been developed to explain it. Finally, we will discuss the legal response to child abuse and the controversies that surround the often highly charged claims of child abuse. This chapter will provide a framework for understanding highly publicized instances of child abuse as well. Objectives

To provide an overview of the prevalence of various forms of child abuse as they occur in the contemporary United States

To explore the different types of child abuse, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect

138To provide an overview of physical child abuse by nonfamily members, typically in institutional settings, including juvenile prisons

To examine the disturbing nature of sexual abuse by mentors—coaches, priests, and others—as well as the rise in sexual predatory abuse that is enhanced by the Internet and social networking sites like Facebook

To describe the legal responses to child abuse of all forms

To summarize the recent changes in prevention and intervention strategies that move beyond the criminal justice system and include health-care and social services