Risk factors are the individual and environmental factors that increase the likelihood of a child becoming victimized by child maltreatment. Children are never responsible for the harm inflicted upon them. However, certain characteristics have a higher tendency to be present when there is an occurrence of child abuse and neglect. Risk factors include:
Child Characteristics
- Young age (the majority of children who experience child maltreatment are younger than four years old, the majority are one year or younger)
- Special needs (such as developmental disability, premature birth, mental health issues, intellectual disability, chronic physical health issues)
Parental Characteristics
- Lack of knowledge and understanding of typical child development
- History of being abused as a child
- Substance abuse problems
- Mental illness, including depression
- Lack of social support
- Unrelated, transient partners in home (such as mother’s boyfriend who is not the father to children)
- Young age, low education, single parenthood, poverty, large number of dependent children
- Thoughts or emotions that support or justify child maltreatment (such as the belief that a child is misbehaving intentionally or is out to get the parent, or belief in using extreme corporal punishment)
Family Factors
- Social isolation
- Domestic abuse (regardless of whether or not the children are being physically abused)
- Unemployment
- Homelessness
- Failure to ensure safety or basic needs of dependent children
- Emotional climate (such as parenting stress, poor parent-child relations or negative interactions between parent and child)
Community Characteristics
- Violence and crime
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- Insecure housing
- Lack of recreational resources (such as parks, sidewalks, safe child and family activities)
- Lack of accessibility to affordable food, medical care, health insurance, adequate childcare or social services
- Lack of social capital among neighbors and community members
Societal and Cultural Factors
Lack of policy and resources to support families
Lack of emphasis on the well-being and rights of children
Racism or discrimination
Social disapproval
Punitive versus rehabilitative focus
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