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It is proffered that stepchildren are more likely than genetic children to be physically abused because they are unable to ensure the genetic survival of their adoptive parents. This abuse is theorized to be more pronounced in communities where social and economic resources are scarce. The salience of this cross-level interaction hinges on the assumption that the limited resources of a family are first allocated to genetic offspring because these children, unlike their nongenetic siblings, carry the genes of their parents. A multilevel analysis of child abuse incidents reported to police in 133 U.S. cities during 2005 shows that in cities with a high level of community disadvantage, stepchildren are much more apt than are genetic children to suffer a physical injury in a child abuse incident. Such a finding buttresses the position articulated by proponents of sociobiology.
Keywords: child abuse; stepchildren; NIBRS; community disadvantage
The physical abuse and neglect of children remains a persistent and costly problem in our society. An estimated three million incidents of abuse and neglect of children were reported to child protective services agencies in the United States during 2004. Authorities deemed approximately 872,000 children in these investigations to be victims of some form of abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006).
The abuse of stepchildren is especially problematic. For example, Weekes-Shackelford and Shackelford (2004) found that stepfathers beat their children under the age of 5 years to death at a yearly rate of about 55.9 per million, as compared to a yearly rate of 5.6 for biological fathers. Research also shows that children living in households where the parents are not married experience a high level of abuse (Schnitzer & Ewigman, 2005). The consistently observed correlation between the genetic status of a child and abuse led Daly and Wilson (1988, pp. 87-88) to conclude that "stepparenthood per se remains the single most powerful risk factor for child abuse that has yet been identified."
Research suggesting that stepchildren who have a high probability of being abused has commonly been interpreted as being congruent with the logic associated with sociobiology, which maintains that all living organisms, including humans, have an incentive to ensure that their genes remain present within the population. Ensuring the survival of one's genetic makeup...