The Abuse of Children in Public Care
Viewed in its entirety, the literature on the abuse of children in public care could be said to have three marked features. The ยฎrst of these is its diversity. Although the amount of research in this area is still quite modest, it is notable for the broad array of issues which have been addressed. Having said this, it must be acknowledged that a second feature of the literature has been its concentration upon sexual abuse, which probably reยฏects the predominance of this form of maltreatment among reported cases. The third characteristic of the literature is that much of it has been produced within approximately the last 10 yearsรa period which equates with the emergence of widespread concern over this subject. In an attempt to reยฏect the composition of the literature, this review is characterized by the same three features. However, the review does at times go outside these conยฎnes in order to give some sense of the full scope of relevant literature. Within these areas there are at least four major themes in research on the abuse of children in public care: the extent and nature of abuse; investigation and prevention.
The Extent of Abuse
The most signiยฎcant source of data on the extent of abuse to children in public care derives from research based upon cases known to agencies. One such study is that by Rindยฏeisch and Rabb (1984) of children living in residential institutions. They found that there were 31 reported allegations of abuse for every 1000 children. Nunno (1992) obtained a considerably higher annual ยฎgure for all looked after children of 158 reports per 1000 children. Studies therefore suggest that, for certain groups of children at least, prevalence may be relatively high.
Reporting and substantiation rates have also been discussed in the context of prevalence. In the study by Rindยฏeisch and Rabb (1984), one in ยฎve allegations were reported to an investigative agency. Of the reported cases featuring in Nunno's (1992) research, one-third were `substantiated' and two-thirds unsubstantiated. Other works