RE: Declines in child abuse and crimes vs children

["Murray A. Straus" <murray.straus@xxxxxxx>]

David:

The link to Blackwell to get the paper did not work for me.  Perhaps it can
only be opened from your email address, as was the case with a paper by
Emily Douglas and me.

	Murray

Murray A. Straus
Professor of Sociology and Co-Director
Family Research Laboratory
University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824
603-862-2594 Fax: 603-862-1122 murray.straus@unh.edu 

Copies of many of my papers and some out-of-print books can be downloaded
from my website  http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2.  For information about the
Family Research Laboratory, post-doctoral fellowships, conferences, and
bibliographies of publications by members of the laboratory log into
www.unh.edu/frl.


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu] On Behalf Of
Finkelhor, David
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 12:56 PM
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject: Declines in child abuse and crimes vs children



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@unh.edu

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