NCJ Number
142864
Journal
Law and Policy Volume: 14 Issue: 2 and 3 Dated: special issue (April/July 1992) Pages: 129-152
Date Published
1992
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the 50 State child-abuse-and- neglect reporting statutes and related research.
Abstract
State statutes and relevant empirical research are reviewed within four contexts: the statutes' stated purposes, the persons and institutions required to report, definitions of abuse and neglect, and the consequences of nonreporting. The study found that most States have been comprehensive in designating those occupations and institutions required to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, so few States need to add more categories or reporters to their statutes. Also, there is little need to modify State definitions of child abuse and neglect, since the specificity of the definitions of child abuse and neglect has little effect on overall reporting behavior. Neither is there need to enact more legislation to address noncompliance, since there is no substantial evidence that this is a serious problem. The most significant finding of the study is that the majority of research on child-abuse- and-neglect reporting statutes focuses on empirical questions unrelated to the primary policy question underlying the statutes, i.e., whether these statutes ultimately protect and benefit children. States should enact or revise legislation to provide for research that addresses the consequences of reporting for children and their families. A renewed focus on children and families rather than on mandated reporters as a unit of analysis would more directly address the issue of how children and their families are being served by these statutes. 48 references, a table of statutes, and a chart of the content of each State's reporting statute