Declines in child abuse and crimes vs children

["Finkelhor, David" <David.Finkelhor@xxxxxxx>]

I thought people on the list might be interested in this just published
article (abstract below with link) reviewing the arguments about why
child abuse and crimes against children have been declining recently.

David


David Finkelhor* Crimes against Children Research Center* Family
Research Laboratory* Department of Sociology* University of New
Hampshire* Durham, NH 03824*  Tel 603 862-2761* Fax 603 862-1122* email:
david.finkelhor@xxxxxxx

http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/
http://www.unh.edu/frl/ 
 
Journal of Social Issues
Volume 62 Page 685  - December 2006
doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2006.00483.x 
Volume 62 Issue 4 
  
  
Why Have Child Maltreatment and Child Victimization Declined? 
David Finkelhor and Lisa Jones  

Various forms of child maltreatment and child victimization declined as
much as 40-70% from 1993 until 2004, including sexual abuse, physical
abuse, sexual assault, homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and
larceny. Other child welfare indicators also improved during the same
period, including teen pregnancy, teen suicide, and children living in
poverty. This article reviews a wide variety of possible explanations
for these changes: demography, fertility and abortion legalization,
economic prosperity, increased incarceration of offenders, increased
agents of social intervention, changing social norms and practices, the
dissipation of the social changes from the 1960s, and psychiatric
pharmacology. Multiple factors probably contributed. In particular,
economic prosperity, increasing agents of social intervention, and
psychiatric pharmacology have advantages over some of the other
explanations.
 
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2006.00483.
x