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9.7.3: Risk and Protective Factors

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    Exclamation Mark, Warning, Danger, Attention, Black

    Warning: This chapter contains information about child abuse which may be triggering for some readers.
    Learning Objectives

    By the end of this section, you should be able to:

    • Identify the risk and protective factors that influence the likelihood of child maltreatment, including family, environmental, and societal factors.
    • Explain how early childhood educators can use knowledge of these factors to create a safer and more supportive environment for children, minimizing the risk of maltreatment.

    Risk Factors

    Risk factors are those characteristics linked with child abuse and neglect—they may or may not be direct causes. A combination of individual, relational, community, and societal factors contribute to the risk of child abuse and neglect. Although children are not responsible for the harm inflicted upon them, certain characteristics have been found to increase their risk of being abused and or neglected.

    Individual Risk Factors for Victimization

    • Children younger than 4 years of age
    • Special needs that may increase caregiver burden (e.g., disabilities, mental health issues, and chronic physical illnesses)

    Risk Factors for Perpetration

    There are different levels of risk factors for the perpetrators of child maltreatment

    Individual Risk Factors

    • Families’ lack of understanding of children’s needs, child development and parenting skills
    • Parental history of child abuse and or neglect
    • Substance abuse and/or mental health issues including depression in the family
    • Parental characteristics such as young age, low education, single parenthood, a large number of dependent children, and low income
    • Nonbiological, transient caregivers in the home (e.g., mother’s male partner)
    • Parental thoughts and emotions that tend to support or justify maltreatment behaviors

    Family Risk Factors

    • Social isolation
    • Family disorganization, dissolution, and violence, including intimate partner violence
    • Parenting stress, poor parent-child relationships, and negative interactions
    Approximately 20 people per minute are physically abused by a partner in the U.S., adding up to more than 10 million women and men over the course of a single year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Domestic violence does not only consist of physical abuse but can also include emotional and sexual abuse as well as stalking. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Destinee Sweeney)
    Figure 9.7.3.1 – Intimate partner violence is a family risk factor for child maltreatment.285

    Community Risk Factors

    • Community violence
    • Concentrated neighborhood disadvantage (e.g., high poverty and residential instability, high unemployment rates, and high density of alcohol outlets), and poor social connections.286

    Protective Factors

    Protective factors may lessen the likelihood of children being abused or neglected. Protective factors have not been studied as extensively or rigorously as risk factors. Identifying and understanding protective factors are equally as important as researching risk factors.

    Family Protective Factors

    • Supportive family environment and social networks
    • Concrete support for basic needs
    • Nurturing parenting skills
    • Stable family relationships
    • Household rules and child monitoring
    • Parental employment
    • Parental education
    • Adequate housing
    • Access to health care and social services
    • Caring adults outside the family who can serve as role models or mentors

    Community Protective Factors

    • Communities that support families and take responsibility for preventing abuse287

    Preventative Strategies

    Child abuse and neglect are serious problems that can have lasting harmful effects on its victims. The goal of preventing child abuse and neglect is to stop this violence from happening in the first place.

    Child abuse and neglect are complex problems rooted in unhealthy relationships and environments. Preventing child abuse and neglect requires addressing factors at all levels of the social ecology–the individual, relational, community, and societal levels.288 Early care and education programs have a direct role to play in supporting families. Families who have access to quality childcare, increase the likelihood that children will experience safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Access to affordable childcare also reduces parental stress and maternal depression, which are risk factors for child abuse and neglect.289

    References

    This page was from 6: Child Maltreatment by Paris. in Paris, J. (2021). Health, safety and nutrition. LibreTexts.

    For references according to subscript, please see pages 145-161 of the original Health, Safety and Nutrition book (Paris, 2021) on Google Drive.

    This page titled 9.7.3: Risk and Protective Factors is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Heather Carter and Amber Tankersley.