ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of violence in the lives of children in the United States. Prevalence and incidence of violence, including child maltreatment (physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect), exposure to intimate violence within the home, assault, peer and sibling victimization, online victimization, sexual victimization, exposure to violence in the community, conventional crime, abductions/kidnapping, and poly-victimization in the lives of children in the United States will be discussed. This work involves data from a variety of sources, including information reported by children and their caregivers and to police and child welfare agencies. Additionally, risk factors for and consequences of victimization (including fatalities), and formal/legal responses to violence against children are discussed. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the most vulnerable children and recommendations for future directions with the ultimate goal of ending violence in the lives of all American children.
