Mistreatment of children and adolescent in a municipal district of the south of Brazil: characteristics of aggressors - DOI: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v8i3.9024

Abstract

Violence against children and adolescents is demanding the development of studies, strategies and politics to face it. This work had the purpose to know the aggressors' characteristics in situations of mistreatment practiced against youngsters under 15 years of age, whose cases were notified to the protection council and assistance programs of Londrina, Paraná State. The study is of transverse character and collection of data was accomplished in 2007, directly from the records of the institutions, using previously tested forms, composed of closed questions. The study was carried out with 15 year-old minors who were victims of violence, notified to the services in the year of 2006. Data were processed and tabulated by the Epi-Info program, whose variables analysis were: age and the aggressors' sex, education, income and relationship with the denouncing victim, and situation associated to the event. It was concluded that, among 1,013 cases of mistreatment of under 15 year old victims, male aggressors prevailed (55.3%); in the age group of 20-24 years old were women (41.6%); and in the group of 30-34 years old were men (32.9%). The great majority (82.8%) had incomplete primary school. The most frequent aggressors were the mother (27.8%), the father (27.1%), the stepfather (15.7%) and the stepmother (15.6%). Mother was responsible for neglect/abandonment (69.5%), and the father, for physical aggression (85.1%). The stepfather perpetrated the physical aggression (63.5%) and sexual abuse (35.2%), and the stepmother, the neglect (63.1%). Other aggressors caused mostly sexual violence. The alcoholism (61.3%) was told to be a risk situation among men; and the maternal conflicts occurred mostly with their strange children (34.9%). The findings contribute to enlarge the widespread knowledge concerning the characteristics of the aggressors of children and adolescents.