Abuse Increases When Mom's Boyfriend Moves In

CitizenLink 11/20/07

Research shows abuse increases when mom's boyfriend moves in.

Child abuse in America is at a high, and experts warn the perpetrators tend to fit into one category.

Reports show children living in households with unrelated adults — usually their mom and her boyfriend — are more likely to be sexually abused, and 50 times more likely to die of injuries, than children living with their biological parents.

“The demographers estimate that a child who’s born out of wedlock will have something like five or six different father figures and co-residents in their household or in their mother’s life before the age of 16," said Robin Wilson, a professor at Washington and Lee University professor. She said the boyfriend may see the child as a threat.

University of Virginia Professor Brad Wilcox told Family News in Focus that men often step into father-like shoes they are not ready to fill.

“It’s a very simple idea; it’s an idea that’s quite old," he said, "but we have to be attentive to the kinds of adults that we’re putting in contact with our children.”