Substance Abuse and Serious Child Mistreatment: Prevalence, Risk, and Outcome in a Court Sample

• NCJ Number: 129329
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: (1991) Pages: 197-211
• Author(s): J M Murphy; M Jellinek; D Quinn; G Smith; F G Poitrast; M Goshko
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 15 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Cabot Family Charitable Trust; Massachusetts Dept of Social Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A sample of 206 cases of serious child abuse or neglect brought before the Boston Juvenile Court was studied to determine the prevalence and specific types of substance abuse associated with the parents.

Abstract

The findings show that in 43 percent of the cases, at least one parent had a documented substance abuse problem; alcohol, cocaine, and heroin were the most frequently abused drugs. Parents with documented abuse problems were significantly more likely to have been previously referred to child protective services, to be rated as presenting a high risk to their children, to have rejected court-recommended social services, and to have their children permanently removed from their homes by the court. A combination of court investigator high risk rating and parental substance abuse was the most accurate predictor of which parents would reject social services and eventually have their children removed. Recommendations pertain to the importance of improving screening, evaluation, and treatment of parental substance abuse and the possibility of adopting a predictive approach to target families more willing to accept court-ordered services. 4 tables, 1 figure, and 28 references (Author abstract modified)