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Saturday, February 08, 2003 From the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (http://www.calib.com/nccanch/pubs/factsheets/canstats.cfm): VICTIMS OF MALTREATMENT Approximately 879,000 children were found to be victims of child maltreatment. Maltreatment categories typically include neglect, medical neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological maltreatment. Almost two-thirds of child victims (63%) suffered neglect (including medical neglect); 19 percent were physically abused; 10 percent were sexually abused; and 8 percent were psychologically maltreated. The rate of child victims per 1,000 children in the population had been decreasing steadily from 15.3 victims per 1,000 children in the population in 1993 to 11.8 victims per 1,000 children in the population in 1999. The victimization rate increased slightly to 12.2 per 1,000 children in the year 2000. Whether or not this is a trend cannot be determined until additional data are collected. Victimization rates declined as age increased. The rate of victimization for children in the age group of birth to 3 years old was 15.7 victims per 1,000 children of the same age. The rate of victimization for children ages 16 and 17 was 5.7 victims per 1,000 children of the same age in the population. Victimization rates were similar for male and female victims (11.2 and 12.8 per 1,000 children respectively) except for victims of sexual abuse. The rate for sexual abuse was 1.7 victims per 1,000 female children compared to 0.4 victims per 1,000 male children. More than half of all victims were White (51%); a quarter (25%) were African American; 15 percent were Hispanic. American Indian/Alaska Natives accounted for 2 percent of victims, and Asian/Pacific Islanders accounted for 1 percent of victims. PERPETRATORS Most States define perpetrators of child abuse or neglect as parents and other caretakers, such as relatives, babysitters, and foster parents, who have maltreated a child. Sixty percent of perpetrators were females and 40 percent were males. The median age of female perpetrators was 31 years; the median age of male perpetrators was 34 years. More than 80 percent of victims (84%) were abused by a parent or parents. Mothers acting alone were responsible for 47 percent of neglect victims and 32 percent of physical abuse victims. Nonrelatives, fathers acting alone, and other relatives were responsible for 29 percent, 22 percent and 19 percent, respectively, of sexual abuse victims. FATALITIES Child fatalities are the most tragic consequence of maltreatment. Approximately 1,200 children died of abuse or neglect in the year 2000-a rate of 1.71 children per 100,000 children in the population. The increase in the rate of fatalities compared to earlier years is hypothesized to be largely attributable to improved reporting.2 Youngest children were the most vulnerable. Children younger than one year old accounted for 44 percent of child fatalities and 85 percent of child fatalities were younger than 6 years of age. posted by Unknown at 9:39 AM Wednesday, February 05, 2003 From Tolerence.org HATE IN THE NEWS: Spotlight on Portland By Ken Olsen | for Tolerance.org Feb. 3, 2003 -- Three Oregon men and a juvenile accused of a drive-by shooting spree through predominately black Portland neighborhoods on the eve of Martin Luther King Day face more than a dozen state criminal charges as well as the possibility of federal hate crimes prosecution. The case reopens the wounds of a high-profile hate crime that had already tarnished the Rose City's image. "Portland is a city still trying to get over the murder of Mulugeta Seraw," said racism expert and Portland State University assistant professor Randy Blazak. "It doesn't look good on your brochure." Seraw, a 27-year-old Ethiopian student at PSU, was beaten to death with steel baseball bats by three members of the East Side White Pride. The Southern Poverty Law Center later won a $12.5 million judgment against White Aryan Resistance leader Tom Metzger, who was linked to the skinheads. Racism "is always a part of the criminal landscape here," Blazak said. But Seraw's murder has prompted change. To the city's credit, it has a hate crimes detective. "I think Portland does better than most (places) in pursuing hate crimes," Blazak said. At the same time, justice often isn't swift, says Stephen Stroud, a former skinhead who runs Oregon Spotlight, a Neo-Nazi watchdog organization. Citing slow-moving prosecutions of cross-burning cases in recent years, Stroud added, "there's a lot of things that go unchecked here." The latest situation The four arrested in the drive-by shooting spree are Brian S. Heath, 21, of Greshman; Joshua D. Ridley, 19, of Milwaukie; Denis P. Fahey, 18, of Redmond; and Andrew T. Sherwood, 15, of Portland. The group took to the streets in a Chevrolet Camaro T-top in the early hours of Jan. 19 with a modified shotgun, according to the Portland Police Bureau. They allegedly were seeking revenge against an African American male whom Heath claims harassed him days earlier. They spent the next hour taking turns leaning out of the top of the car and shooting out the windows of cars and hitting at least one house. Several people called police, and the foursome were spotted by a Portland Police Bureau criminologist. The suspected shooters fled north into Washington state where they were arrested after law enforcement officers flattened the tires of their car. The shotgun, thrown from the car during the pursuit, also was recovered, police say. Each of the men faces five counts of intimidation, five counts of criminal mischief and five counts of unlawful use of a firearm in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The firearms charges alone carry a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence in Oregon, Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Donald Rees said. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, are investigating possible charges under federal hate crimes statutes. Since the incident, the family of at least one of the accused men told reporters the attack couldn’t have been racially motivated, considering the suspect's mixed-race background. But PSU's Blazak says the two aren't mutually exclusive. "If you look at the typical hate criminal, they often aren't the pure Aryan soldier. They often come from multi-ethnic backgrounds," Blazak said. "It adds to the psychological issues they come from and inherit." The lack of affiliation with an organized hate group also does not change the intent of the defendants, he said. Most racist incidents "are relatively spontaneous, done by young white men who have been drinking," Blazak said. "They tend to be crimes of opportunity ... anybody who’s a convenient victim will do." Case in point: An Italian man was beaten up in downtown Portland’s Pioneer Square earlier in January because his attackers thought he was Middle Eastern, Blazak said. But for victims, "the result is the same whether the activity is spontaneous or organized." Alcohol may have been a factor in the latest Portland case. Another case nearby Drinking also appears to have contributed to the Jan. 18 beating of an African American teenager by five skinheads in nearby Vancouver, Wash., according to police reports. Four of the five skinheads were visiting from Idaho. Stroud, of Oregon Spotlight, blames this recent rise in area hate crimes on an overdose of post-9.11 patriotic paranoia. One key element is the backlash against Arab Americans, in part prompted by the government. "When it looks like it's OK to bash some people, then unfortunately it looks like it's OK to bash anybody," Stroud said. He blames a "buffet" of other reasons — from economic frustration to the culture these young men typically bring from home, enabled by society's reluctance to get involved. Stroud's solution? "We need to find a reason to make white families to bring (appropriate) teachings — to bring the value of human life — into the home." Veteran Pacific Northwest Journalist Ken Olsen is a 2003 Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellow. posted by Unknown at 11:17 AM