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Localities, social services and child abuse: The role of community characteristics in social services allocation and child abuse reporting

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  • Ben-Arieh, Asher

Abstract

The study presented here explores relationships between a set of locality characteristics, two variables of social services availability and child maltreatment. Data was collected on 173 localities in Israel, ranging from small towns to small cities. In which roughly 34% of the overall child population reside. This study was set to test three hypotheses: worse off localities will have more social services; worse off localities will have higher child maltreatment rates; localities with more available social services will have higher reported child maltreatment rates. The study shows that reporting rates vary across localities. The study established a relation between locality characteristics and availability of social workers but not with the availability of child protection officers. Findings supported earlier studies by finding a relation between locality hardship and higher child maltreatment rate. The study also established a clear relation between availability of social services and reported child maltreatment rates. Our study clearly shows that to prevent child maltreatment, one should address unemployment and better support of single-parent families.

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  • Ben-Arieh, Asher, 2010. "Localities, social services and child abuse: The role of community characteristics in social services allocation and child abuse reporting," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 536-543, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:32:y:2010:i:4:p:536-543
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Freisthler, Bridget, 2004. "A spatial analysis of social disorganization, alcohol access, and rates of child maltreatment in neighborhoods," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(9), pages 803-819, September.
    2. Freisthler, Bridget, 2004. "Corrigendum to "A spatial analysis of social disorganization, alcohol access, and rates of child maltreatment in neighborhoods" [Chilren and Youth Services Review 26 (2004) 803-819]," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(12), pages 1193-1192, December.
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    1. Ben-Arieh, Asher, 2010. "Public expenditure, locality characteristics and child outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1778-1786, December.
    2. Ayelet Rosenthal, 2022. "Macro-level Socio-economic factors and children’s View on Physical and Emotional Maltreatment," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(5), pages 1777-1791, October.
    3. Barnhart, Sheila & Maguire-Jack, Kathryn, 2016. "Single mothers in their communities: The mediating role of parenting stress and depression between social cohesion, social control and child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 37-45.
    4. Maguire-Jack, Kathryn & Font, Sarah A., 2017. "Intersections of individual and neighborhood disadvantage: Implications for child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 44-51.
    5. Portmann, Rahel & Mitrovic, Tanja & Gonthier, Hakim & Kosirnik, Céline & Knüsel, René & Jud, Andreas, 2022. "Do socio-structural factors influence the incidence and reporting of child neglect? An analysis of multi-sectoral national data from Switzerland," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Smith, Brenda D. & Pressley, Tracy D., 2019. "Do surprisingly low child maltreatment rates in rural southern counties reflect lower rates of substantiation?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    7. Bywaters, Paul & Brady, Geraldine & Sparks, Tim & Bos, Elizabeth & Bunting, Lisa & Daniel, Brigid & Featherstone, Brid & Morris, Kate & Scourfield, Jonathan, 2015. "Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: Explaining the ‘inverse intervention law’," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 98-105.
    8. Wan, Guowei & Tang, Sisi & Xu, Yicheng, 2020. "The prevalence, posttraumatic depression and risk factors of domestic child maltreatment in rural China: A gender analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    9. Alfandari, Ravit & Enosh, Guy & Rechnitzer, Haim, 2021. "To split or include? Child sexual abuse mandate reporting in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Israel," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. McLeigh, Jill D. & McDonell, James R. & Lavenda, Osnat, 2018. "Neighborhood poverty and child abuse and neglect: The mediating role of social cohesion," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 154-160.
    11. Lifshitz, Chen Chana, 2017. "Fostering employability among youth at-risk in a multi-cultural context: Insights from a pilot intervention program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 20-34.
    12. Weber, Sabine & Landolt, Markus A. & Maier, Thomas & Mohler-Kuo, Meichun & Schnyder, Ulrich & Jud, Andreas, 2017. "Psychotherapeutic care for sexually-victimized children – Do service providers meet the need? Multilevel analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 165-172.

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