Physical child abuse in Sweden: A study of police reports between 1986 and1996

Background: This study aims at investigating physical child abuse in Sweden during 1986-1996, a period when alarm was being raised about an increased number of police reports on physical child abuse. The study focuses on abus e committed by a parent or carer and aims at analyzing the victim and the p erpetrator, family environment, injuries and judicial consequences of physi cal abuse. Method: All police reports on physical child abuse (0-14 years o ld) in a designated police district in Sweden during 1986-1996 were examine d, as well as any judicial proceedings that followed. Results: Our research yielded three major findings. Firstly, a large part of the increased numbe r of police reports had to do with violence outside the family: 145 childre n (0.5 per 1000 children) were found abused within the families, by a paren t or a carer. Secondly, there was a tendency toward males abusing boys and females abusing girls, and the biological father was the most frequent susp ected perpetrator. Thirdly, 20% of the police reports led to prosecutions, and the investigations were time consuming. Known risk factors for physical abuse, such as unemployment, violent spouse relations, substance and drug abuse and poor mental health were found in several families, often among th e prosecuted perpetrators. When examining incidence of physical abuse, Swed en was comparable to the other Scandinavian countries, where legislation an d social context are similar. Conclusions: The numbers of physically abused children that have been reported to the police in Sweden has increased dur ing the investigated period. Familiar risk factors are present in our study , accompanied by new findings, such as, for instance, a gender preference t owards the abuse victim.