Family structure and differential child abuse: The role of siblings
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Date
2008
Authors
Ohlander, Julianne
Chew, Kenneth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uludağ Üniversitesi
Abstract
The relationship between child abuse and sibling configuration, including the number of siblings, the number of years between siblings, birth order, and the agesex distribution of the siblings, was explored in the context of competing models of child outcomes. Equal probability sampling was used to extract archival child protection histories for 108 multi-child families, at least one of whose children was the reported victim of physical or sexual abuse. Random-effects Cox proportional hazards regression was applied to the resulting observations on 332 children in separate models for physical and sexual abuse. The results suggest that children are safer when they live with numerous, older, or widely spaced siblings, controlling for adult composition and prior victimization. Because perpetrators seek privacy, siblings may deter abuse through routine surveillance. Numerous, older, or widely spaced siblings might increase surveillance.
Description
An earlier version was presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the Population Association of America (Minneapolis).
Keywords
Family size, Sibling constellation, Differential treatment, Resource dilution, Confluence model
Citation
Ohlander, J. ve Chew, K. (2008). "Family structure and differential child abuse: The role of siblings". International Journal of Social Inquiry, 1(1), 121-150.