Re: re unrelated males in household - some data

["Nicole Laborde" <nicole_laborde@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am trying to understand some of the interesting statistics presented
here.Why are children who die in fires or auto accidents classified as
maltreatment deaths?  Also, what is considered unsafe sleeping arrangements?

Thanks,

Nicole Laborde
----- Original Message -----
From: "Niki Delson" <niki@delko.net>
To: "Child Maltreatment Researchers"
<CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 1:57 PM
Subject: RE: re unrelated males in household - some data


> There were 2591 Missouri resident children under age 5 that died in
Missouri
> from 1992 through 1994. A total of 952 deaths related to congenital
> malformations (427), prematurity (259), and other or undetermined cause of
> death (266) were excluded, leaving 1639 deaths for study (Fig 1) . Of the
> 291 injury deaths, 175 (60%) met the study definition of maltreatment; 296
> controls were selected from the 1348 eligible noninjury deaths. We were
> unable to select 2 controls for each case because of a lack of eligible 2-
> and 3-year-old controls.
> I have the article in pdf. format and I am trying to find out if copyright
> prevents me from posting it as an attachment. In the meantime -- here is
> some data
>
> In 55 (31%) of the 175 maltreatment deaths, a parent or other caregiver
> directly inflicted the fatal injury. Of these, 39 (71%) were inflicted by
> shaking, dropping, or hitting the child; 11 (20%) involved the use of
> physical objects including firearms; and the method of injury for the
> remaining 5 (9%) inflicted injury deaths was unknown.
>
> One hundred twenty (69%) maltreatment deaths resulted when a parent or
> caregiver failed to protect the child from a hazard. These deaths resulted
> from fires (37, 31%), drowning
>
> (31, 26%), unsafe sleeping arrangements (17, 14%), motor vehicles (17,
14%),
> choking or strangulation (8, 7%), and other miscellaneous hazards,
including
> falls from heights, poisons, and electrocution (10, 8%).
>
> Household Composition and Risk of Maltreatment Death
> Children residing in households with adults unrelated to them had the
> highest risk of maltreatment death compared with decedent children
residing
> in households with 2 biological parents and no other adults (aOR: 8.8; 95%
> confidence interval [CI]: 3.6-21.5; Table 2) . Children in households with
> step, foster, or adoptive parents also had an increased risk of
maltreatment
> death (aOR: 4.7; 95% CI: 1.6-12.0) as did children in households with
other
> relatives present (aOR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5).
>
> The majority (83%) of households with at least 1 unrelated adult resident
> consisted of the child's biological mother and her boyfriend. Similarly,
> >70% of the case households (and only 30% of control households) in the
> step, foster, and adoptive category contained a biological mother and
> stepfather. Therefore, the increased risk of maltreatment death we found
> occurs primarily in households including biologically unrelated adult
males
> and boyfriends of the child's mother. Thirty-nine percent of our control
> children resided in households with only 1 biological parent. Risk was not
> increased for children in households with 1 biological parent and no other
> adult residents. Based on national data on household composition from the
> Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics,[30] we
calculated
> a population attributable risk of 12% for households with single mothers
and
> their partners, and 8% for stepparent households. In our study, the
partners
> were mainly boyfriends; the identity of the partners were not specified in
> the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics data.
>
> Perpetrators:
> We had perpetrator information for most of the 55 maltreatment deaths that
> resulted from an inflicted injury (Table 5) . Of these 21 children, 38%
> sustained injuries inflicted by a biological parent (18% by the biological
> mother and 20% by the biological father). Fourteen of the children (25%)
> were injured by their mother's boyfriend, whereas only 1 child (2%) was
> injured by their father's girlfriend. The perpetrator was unknown or not
> identified for 7 children (13%). Table 5 also identifies the household
> composition category of the decedent child. It is worth noting, however,
> that perpetrators were not necessarily residents of the decedent child's
> household.
>
>
***************************************************************************
>  Niki Delson at Delson-Kokish Associates, P.O. Box 476, Trinidad, CA 95570
>         Clinical and Forensic Evaluations, Consultation & Training
>                  (707)677-3181-voice   (707)677-0187-fax
>                    niki@delko.net         www.delko.net
>
***************************************************************************
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
> [mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu]On Behalf Of
> PFONNER, LINDA
> Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 8:05 AM
> To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
> Subject: re unrelated males in household
>
>
>
> My question, as a CPS worker, not researcher, is how often, if ever, is
that
> unrelated adult male in the household the perpetrator of the maltreatment
> that leads to the child's death?  Anecdotal evidence would lead us to
> believe that such unrelated males, especially if they are under 25yoa, are
> prime suspects in such deaths.  Does this study discuss this at all?
>
>
>
>
>
> Linda Pfonner
>
> Child Protection Worker
> 478 Main Street, Suite 321
> Buffalo NY  14202-4103
> 716-858-8802
> 14D691@dfa.state.ny.us
>