Physical, Sexual, Emotional Abuse, and Poverty

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Introduction Poverty in America is not indicated by a specific income level, as most people think, but instead by a comparison of 48 possible poverty thresholds taking into account family size and composition without regard to geographic locations (Macartney, 2011). For example, the poverty threshold for a family of 5 with two children under the age of 18 would be $27,517 (census.gov 2013); an amount that would be difficult to live off of in major cities where the cost of living is much higher. According to the Current Population Survey, 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement for the year 2012, there are 46.5 million people in America who are living in poverty, including 21.8 percent of children under the age of 18; the highest percentage since 2001 (census.gov 2013). There is no doubt that poverty has a dramatic effect on how families function and is highly correlated to the child maltreatment and neglect (Berger, 2004) that affects 1 in 5 children. There are many common factors associated with the stress of living in poverty that are indicators of potential child maltreatment or neglect. By identifying patterns that occur in child maltreatment cases, among those living in poverty, data can be used to adapt social programs that will reduce the occurrence of child maltreatment. An overview of neglect Physical, sexual, emotional abuse, and neglect all occur among families living in poverty. Neglect is the most prevalent form of abuse among families living in poverty, accounting for more than half of all CPS investigations (Berger, 2004); although poor people may be more likely to have been reported to CPS due to a greater level of surveillance (Merritt, 2009). In a study group of 259 children recruited from pediatric clinics s... ... middle of paper ... ... B., Pandey, S. (1996). Understanding the relationship between neighborhood poverty and specific types of child maltreatment. Child Abuse and Neglect. Vol. 20, No. 11. Pg. 1003-1018. Elsevier Science Ltd. Merritt, D. H. (2009). Child Abuse Potential: Correlates with Child Maltreatment Rates And Structural Measures Of Neighborhoods. Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 927-934. Lovejoy, M.C., Graczyk, P.A., O’Hare, E., and Neuman, G. (2000). Maternal Depression and Parenting Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review. Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 561–592, What Is Depression? Overview, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments. (2014). WebMD. Retrieved April 12, 2014 from http://www.webmd.com/depression/mental-health-depression Brown, G.W., Moran, P. M. (1997). Single mothers, poverty and depression. Psychological Medicine, 27, 21-33. Cambridge University Press

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