A Critical Review of the Empirical Literature: Identifying Correlates of Child Neglect

More than half the children in the United States who were victims of maltreatment in 2000 were victims of neglect (USDHHS, 2002). The majority of all child maltreatment related fatalities in 2000 were the result of neglect (USDHHS, 2002), and 27.8% of these fatalities were associated with both physical abuse and neglect (USDHH, 2002). Neglected children are more likely to be younger children (USDHHS, 2000), and the highest rate of child fatality due to maltreatment is between the ages of zero and five (Petit & Curtis, 1997; Gustavsson & Segal, 1994; USDHHS, 1999). The purpose of this article is to present the findings of a systematic review of the research on child neglect from 1990 to 2002. The review critiques method and synthesizes of the current body of knowledge on child neglect.