The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Out-of-Home Care: A Comparison Between Abuse in Residential and in Foster Care

Saskia Euser; Lenneke R.A. Alink; Anne Tharner; Marinus H. van IJzendoorn; Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg

doi:10.1177/1077559513489848

The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Out-of-Home Care: A Comparison Between Abuse in Residential and in Foster Care

Saskia Euser, Lenneke R.A. Alink, Anne Tharner, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

We investigated the 2010 year prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) in residential and foster care and compared it with prevalence rates in the general population. We used two approaches to estimate the prevalence of CSA. First, 264 professionals working in residential or foster care (sentinels) reported CSA for the children they worked with (N = 6,281). Second, 329 adolescents staying in residential or foster care reported on their own experiences with CSA. Sentinels and adolescents were randomly selected from 82 Dutch out-of-home care facilities. We found that 3.5 per 1,000 children had been victims of CSA based on sentinel reports. In addition, 58 per 1,000 adolescents reported having experienced CSA. Results based on both sentinel report and self-report revealed higher prevalence rates in out-of-home care than in the general population, with the highest prevalence in residential care. Prevalence rates in foster care did not differ from the general population. According to our findings, children and adolescents in residential care are at increased risk of CSA compared to children in foster care. Unfortunately, foster care does not fully protect children against sexual abuse either, and thus its quality needs to be further improved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	221-231
Number of pages	11
Journal	Child Maltreatment
Volume	18
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559513489848
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2013
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The authors are grateful to Jill Baars, Cyntha Bogaart, Marjolein Branger, Kirsten Illingworth, Petra Middendorp, Renée Naalden, Annette van Noort, Hannie Poiësz, Angel Roseval, Angela Scheepers, and Christian Stokman for their assistance during various phases of this project. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study was supported by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport and the Dutch Ministry of Justice, and by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (MHvIJ: NWO SPINOZA prize).

Keywords

child sexual abuse
foster care
prevalence
residential care

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1177/1077559513489848

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abstract = "We investigated the 2010 year prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) in residential and foster care and compared it with prevalence rates in the general population. We used two approaches to estimate the prevalence of CSA. First, 264 professionals working in residential or foster care (sentinels) reported CSA for the children they worked with (N = 6,281). Second, 329 adolescents staying in residential or foster care reported on their own experiences with CSA. Sentinels and adolescents were randomly selected from 82 Dutch out-of-home care facilities. We found that 3.5 per 1,000 children had been victims of CSA based on sentinel reports. In addition, 58 per 1,000 adolescents reported having experienced CSA. Results based on both sentinel report and self-report revealed higher prevalence rates in out-of-home care than in the general population, with the highest prevalence in residential care. Prevalence rates in foster care did not differ from the general population. According to our findings, children and adolescents in residential care are at increased risk of CSA compared to children in foster care. Unfortunately, foster care does not fully protect children against sexual abuse either, and thus its quality needs to be further improved.",

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The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Out-of-Home Care: A Comparison Between Abuse in Residential and in Foster Care

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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