Ethnic identity and exposure to maltreatment in childhood: evidence from a New Zealand birth cohort.

• Author: Marie, Dannette
• Position: Report

Abstract

Exposure to maltreatment in childhood, including sexual abuse, severe physical punishment and inter-parental violence, is an issue of growing concern in New Zealand. The present study examined the associations between ethnic identity and exposure to childhood maltreatment among a longitudinal birth cohort of individuals born in Christchurch in 1977. Participants of Maori ethnicity reported higher rates of exposure to physical punishment and inter-parental violence, but did not report higher rates of exposure to sexual abuse. Control for a range of socio-economic and family functioning factors reduced the magnitude of the associations between ethnicity and both physical punishment and inter-parental violence, but did not fully account for the associations between ethnicity and maltreatment exposure. Furthermore, adjustment for variations in Maori cultural identity indicated that cohort members of sole Maori identity were at significantly increased risk of exposure to both physical punishment and inter-parental violence. It was concluded that Maori, and in particular those of sole Maori cultural identity, were at higher risk of exposure to physical punishment and inter-parental violence, and that the associations could not be fully explained by either socio-economic deprivation or exposure to family dysfunction in childhood.

INTRODUCTION

Exposure to child maltreatment, including sexual abuse, physical abuse and inter-parental violence, can have a deleterious impact on healthy child development. Damaged attachment bonds, impaired physical and mental health, poorer psychosocial adjustment, and cognitive performance leading to lower educational achievement are outcomes that have all been linked with childhood maltreatment (Boden et al. 2007, Cicchetti and Toth 2005, Collishaw et al. 2007, Daignault and Hebert 2004, Fergusson and Horwood 1998, Fergusson, Horwood et al. 1996, Fergusson and Lynskey 1997, Mullen and Tonge 2000, Noll et al. 2008, Salzinger et al. 2001, Woodward et al. 2001).

The problem of child maltreatment may be of particular concern in New Zealand. In a UNICEF assessment of child maltreatment across 27 nations, New Zealand was ranked as having the third highest rate (1.2 per 100,000 averaged over a five-year period) of deaths from maltreatment of those under the age of 15 years (UNICEF 2003). Even though this category represents the most extreme outcome of child maltreatment, the data provide an indication of the likely rate of non-fatal child maltreatment in each of the nations examined. In a further assessment examining child wellbeing (UNICEF 2007), it was reported that, of the 25 wealthy nations reviewed, New Zealand had the second lowest rate of child health and safety as measured by averaging scores across three indicators (infant health, preventive health services and child safety).

In addition to the above statistics, it is the over-representation of Maori children in the nation's child abuse statistics that often attracts both professional and public attention (Kiro 2000, Mansell 2006, Pinto 2006, Wynd 2006). Evidence suggests that, when compared with other ethnic groups in New Zealand, Maori children are at greater risk of being exposed to physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and are more likely to experience neglect than children from any other ethnic group (Adolescent Health Research Group 2004, Lievore et al. 2007, Ministry of Social Development 2004, 2006). According to official statistical data, the rate of substantiated abuse per 1,000 children under the age of 17 was 11.9 for Maori in 2003 compared to 5.9 for non-Maori. This pattern of ethnic asymmetry, with Maori children being approximately twice as likely to be assessed as abused or neglected when compared with other children, has been consistently observed (Department of Social Welfare 1988, Kotch et al. 1993, Ministry of Social Development 2002, 2004).

These findings raise important questions about the factors that lead to Maori children being more vulnerable to exposure to and experience of child maltreatment. Although the results from various data sources concur about Maori children being over-represented in child abuse statistics, limited empirical research has been conducted into the risk and protective factors associated with the higher rate of child maltreatment among Maori. Nevertheless, three explanatory frameworks have been employed to account for the current ethnic disparities in child abuse in New Zealand.

One explanation for the higher rate of childhood maltreatment among Maori involves the issue of socio-economic disadvantage. Specifically, it has been well established that on a range of socio-economic indicators, including housing, income, welfare dependence, unemployment and educational achievement, Maori are at an increased risk of experiencing poverty and disadvantage (Chapple 2000, Marie et al. 2008b, Ministry of Social Development 2007, Statistics New Zealand 2002). Social deprivation has been strongly linked to risk of child maltreatment, and this factor has been prominent in attempts to explain the higher child abuse rates of indigenous and ethnic minority group members in other nations (Cross et al. 2000, Duran et al. 2004, Gordon 2006, Moisan et al. 1997, SandersPhillips et al. 1995). Thus it could be proposed that the higher rate of childhood maltreatment among Maori can be explained by the higher rate of socio-economic disadvantage experienced by Maori.

A closely related explanation involves an ecological "at risk" model of familial adversity (Ramey and Landesman Ramey 1998, Repetti et al. 2002). This perspective suggests that there is a range of factors or stressors, either internal or external to the family, that interact and accumulate to impair healthy family functioning. Factors that may characterise poorly functioning families include: parental alcohol and drug abuse; parental criminality; and loose or unstable family structure, often involving teen parenting, sole parenting or serial changes of adults responsible for performing a care-giving role to children in a family (Cicchetti and Toth 2005, Freisthler et al. 2006, Tolan et al. 2006, Zielinski and Bradshaw 2006). Each of these factors has been associated with the maltreatment of children, and as research indicates, separate from economic disadvantage, Maori also have greater exposure to these factors of family dysfunction (Fanslow et al. 2007, Fergusson 2003, Ministry of Social Development 2004, 2007). It may be argued that the higher degree of family adversity experienced by Maori families accounts for the greater exposure of Maori children to childhood maltreatment.

A third framework, focusing on the role of cultural identity has, over the preceding two decades, been the dominant explanation employed to account for the ethnic asymmetry in child maltreatment rates in New Zealand (Balzer et al. 1997, Keddell 2007, Kiro 2000, Ministry of Social Development 2006, Pihama et al. 2003, Stanley 2000, Stanley and Thompson 1999). This view proposes that it is the degree of association that Maori families have with Maori kin groupings and the level of commitment they show to traditional customary practices that will influence the likelihood of Maori children experiencing maltreatment. From this perspective, strength of Maori identity in families is a protective factor for child abuse, and a lesser identification with Maori cultural domains may increase the risk of children being exposed to maltreatment. Intervention guidelines for child abuse have therefore been specifically developed for Maori, by Maori (Kruger et al. 2004, Stanley 2000, Stanley and Thompson 1999). These focus on determining the levels of affiliation Maori families have to cultural domains and the strength of cultural identity of individuals who reside in the family. Reattachment of Maori families to cultural domains and customs has therefore become a key feature of current child abuse intervention efforts.

Although each of these frameworks--socio-economic disadvantage, family functioning and cultural identity--could potentially explain ethnic differences in child maltreatment in New Zealand, to our knowledge there have been no empirical studies conducted that examine the way in which these factors may mediate links between Maori ethnicity and maltreatment. In addition, while each of the frameworks is not necessarily mutually exclusive, it proves possible, using longitudinal data, to determine the approximate contribution of each set of factors to abuse exposure outcomes.

Against this background, this paper reports on analyses of the links between ethnic status (Maori/non-Maori) and rates of childhood maltreatment (childhood physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse and inter-parental violence) in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 21. The aims of this research were to:

* ascertain the rates of childhood maltreatment reported by Maori and non-Maori respondents at the ages of 18 and 21

* examine the extent to which ethnic differences in childhood maltreatment could be explained by socio-economic and family functioning factors

* document the extent to which risks of childhood maltreatment vary with cultural identity after socio-economic factors and family functioning have been taken into account.

METHODS

The data were gathered during the course of the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS). In this study, a birth cohort of 1,265 children (635 males, 630 females) born in the Christchurch (New Zealand) urban region in mid-1977 has been studied at birth, four months, one year and annually to age 16 years, and again at ages 18, 21 and 25 years (Fergusson and Horwood 2001, Fergusson et al. 1989). The analyses reported here were based on the 1,011 study participants (80% of the original sample) for whom information was available concerning ethnic identity at age 21. All study information was collected on the basis of signed and...