NCJ Number
58506
Journal
Journal of Social Service Research Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (FALL 1977) Pages: 63-76
Date Published
1977
Length
14 pages
Annotation
EXPLANATORY MODELS ARE TESTED IN AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN SOME EMPIRICALLY BASED UNDERSTANDING OF VARIABLES THAT MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR VARIATION IN INJURY SEVERITY IN PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE.
Abstract
THE DATA USED IN THIS INVESTIGATION WERE FROM A NATIONAL STUDY OF PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE IN 1967 GENERATED BY DAVID G. GIL. FOUR SETS OF DATA WERE DEVELOPED IN THIS STUDY: A NATIONAL OPINION SURVEY, 'BASIC' DATA ON ALL OFFICIALLY REPORTED INCIDENTS IN 1967 AND 1968, AND COMPREHENSIVE DATA FOR A SAMPLE OF THE 1967 COHORT. THE PRESENT STUDY IS BASED ON THE LATTER SET OF DATA. THE SAMPLE (N=1,380) INCLUDED ALL CASES REPORTED IN SAMPLE CITIES AND COUNTIES SELECTED FROM THE 1966 LISTING OF STANDARD METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS. THE PRIMARY STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED, MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS, REQUIRES THE A PRIORI STATEMENT OF REGRESSION MODELS (OR COMBINATIONS OF VARIABLES) THAT ARE HYPOTHESIZED TO ACCOUNT FOR VARIATION IN THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE, INJURY SEVERITY IN THIS INSTANCE. FOLLOWING EXPLANATIONS OF DATA SOURCE, DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEVERITY INDEX, AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE DATA, EXPLANATORY MODELS ARE PRESENTED, ALONG WITH THE RESULTS FROM THE REGRESSION ANALYSES. A RELATIVELY SIMPLE PREDICTOR MODEL COMPOSED OF SEVEN VARIABLES WAS USED AT THE START OF THE STUDY, WITH EACH SUBSEQUENT MODEL COMPOSED OF VARIABLES FROM THE PREVIOUS MODEL PLUS NEW VARIABLES. RESULTS SHOWED THAT AMONG THE SIX VARIABLES DELINEATING THE MEANS OF INFLICTING INJURY, THERE WAS A LACK OF SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS FOR THE 'BEATING WITH AN INSTRUMENT' VARIABLE. THE 'DELIBERATE NEGLECT' VARIABLE HAD MUCH MORE EFFECT ON SEVERITY OF INJURY THAN WAS ANTICIPATED. A TOTAL OF FOUR VARIABLES RELATED TO THE CHILD WERE USED IN THE MODELS TESTED. REGARDLESS OF THE COMBINATION IN WHICH THEY WERE TESTED, ONLY THE CHILD'S AGE CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO EXPLAINING VARIABILITY IN INJURY SEVERITY, WITH YOUNGER CHILDREN SUFFERING GREATER INJURY. OF THE 13 VARIABLES IDENTIFIED WITH CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERPETRATORS, ONLY 4 CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO EXPLAINING VARIABILITY IN INJURY SEVERITY. GENERAL AND CHILD-SPECIFIC ANGER, BEING NONWHITE, BEING FEMALE, AND HAVING A SPOUSE WERE VARIABLES ASSOCIATED WITH MORE SEVERE INJURIES. THE CHOICE OF MANNER OF INFLICTING INJURY ACCOUNTS FOR MOST OF THE EXPLAINED VARIATION OF THE DATA, BUT IT IS NOT CLEAR WHAT VARIABLES AFFECT THIS CHOICE OR DETERMINE THE SEVERITY OF INJURY INFLICTED THROUGH THE PARTICULAR MEANS CHOSEN. MORE PRECISE RESEARCH IS NEEDED IN THIS AREA. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)