Canadian Research in Brief: 23rd Edition (October 2010)
The articles listed below can be accessed through the corresponding journal website or accessed at a local library or university.
Canadian Research in Brief: 23rd Edition (October 2010)
Daigneault, I., Hebert, M., & McDuff, P. (2009). . Child Abuse and Neglect, 33(9), 638-647.
This article examined childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and
socio-demographic characteristics as risk factors for intimate
partner violence (IPV) through secondary data analyses of the 1999
Canadian General Social Survey on victimization. Data were
collected using a random digit dial survey of households with
telephones in Canada. For the purposes of the present analyses,
only those Survey participants who were 18 years or older and were
married or living in common law relationships (at the time of the
survey or within the past five years of the survey) were included.
Chi-square analysis and hierarchical logistic regressions were
used. Women reported a higher prevalence of CSA as compared to men,
and women also were more likely to report physical and sexual IPV
than men. Psychological IPV did not differ for women and men. Women
that reported CSA were more likely to also report psychological,
physical, and sexual abuse by current or previous intimate
partners. For those women that reported CSA certain factors
increased the risk of intimate partner violence, namely young age
and physical or mental limitations in everyday activities. Men that
reported CSA, compared to men that did not report CSA, were more
likely to report psychological and physical abuse in their intimate
relationships. For men that reported CSA, older age and having a
partner at the time of the survey appeared to decrease the
likelihood of IPV, whereas the presence of physical or mental
limitations and historical childhood physical assault appeared to
increase the likelihood of IPV. Overall the results show that among
adults in Canada, a history of CSA is associated with a greater
risk of victimization within intimate relationships. The authors
conclude that specific prevention efforts must be developed
targeting women and men that have survived childhood sexual
abuse.
Durrant, J., Trocm茅, N., Fallon, B., Milne, C., Black, T.
(2009). . Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment
and Trauma, 18(1), 64-87.
The Canadian Criminal Code (1985) in section 43 allows
parents to physically punish their children according to seven
criteria: the punishment is 鈥渁dministered by a biological parent鈥�;
that the child is between two and twelve years of age; that the
child is capable of learning from the punishment; that the act is
minor in nature; that it does not involve an object; it is not
coercive; and that 鈥渋t is not degrading, inhuman or harmful鈥�
(p.67).
Durrant et al. evaluated the validity of section 43 by
operationalizing six of the seven criteria outlined above and
applying the criteria to the 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of
Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003). The authors found
that the criteria defining section 43 made up the majority of
CIS-2003 substantiated child physical maltreatment cases. Commonly
the perpetrator of physical maltreatment was a parent, the case
involved a child that was between ages two and twelve, and the case
involved non minor force involving a weapon. The authors also
examined the use of spanking among parents as it related to
substantiation of physical maltreatment to find that it was the
second best predictor of substantiation. These findings, according
to the authors, support the abolishment of legislation in support
of physical punishment and illuminate the arbitrary nature of the
current limits set out by section 43.
Trocm茅, N., Knoke, D., Fallon, B., & MacLaurin, B.
(2009). .
Child Maltreatment, 14(1),
4-16.
The authors discuss the complexities associated with classifying
child maltreatment according to substantiation status.
Substantiation status is often used as a proxy measure for
maltreatment, and can in turn shape the research findings that
appear in the literature. Certain jurisdictions and research
projects utilize a three-tiered classification system (including
substantiated, suspected, and unfounded maltreatment) and others
utilize a two-tiered classification system (only including
substantiated and unsubstantiated maltreatment). The authors
examined data from the 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported
Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003; Trocm茅 et al., 2005), utilizing
unweighted data obtained from a national sample excluding Quebec.
Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Certain factors
were found to be associated with the decision to classify an
investigation as suspected rather than unsubstantiated including
referrals made by police, housing risks, uncooperative caregivers,
child behavioural issues, caregiver risk factors, and presence of
physical/emotional harm to the child. In analysing factors
associated with substantiation, the study found that investigations
were more likely to be classified as substantiated rather than
suspected if the child was physically or emotionally harmed as a
result of maltreatment, the referral was made by police, or if
there had been a previous substantiated report of maltreatment. The
results confirm that in Canada unsubstantiated cases involve
situations with fewer risk factors, and they support the use of a
three-tiered classification that does not force suspected cases
into a substantiated/unsubstantiated dichotomy.
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