Citation

Price JH, Islam R, Gruhler J, Dove L, Knowles J, Stults G. J. Community Health 2001; 26(4): 271-284.

Affiliation

Department of Public Health and Rehabilitative Services, The University of Toledo, OH 43606, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11488516

Abstract

This study found that the majority of urban adults did not believe that any of the characteristics of children posed to them predisposed a child to abuse. In contrast, 40% of respondents claimed child abuse could not occur in a family like the one in which they grew up. The majority perceived only one characteristic, alcohol abuse, as a characteristic of child abusers. Few respondents (10%) believed that child abusers could not be helped, and 25% were not sure. Adults' perceptions of child abuse and abusers varied by sex, age, socioeconomic status, and whether the respondents had children. The data indicate that there are significant deficits in the respondents' knowledge of child abuse and neglect.

Language: en