Perceived neighborhood social disorder and residents' attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse

Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationship between perceived neighborhood social disorder and attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse. Method: Data from a national probabilistic sample (N = 9,759) were used. Responses about the perception of neighborhood social disorder, perceived frequency of child physical abuse in Spanish families, and willingness to report a case of child physical abuse to the police were collected through face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that perceived neighborhood social disorder was negatively related to residents' attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse. These results take into account the potential confounding effects of gender, age, socio-economic status, educational level, size of city, and perceived frequency of child physical abuse on reporting attitudes. Conclusion: Results illustrate the important role that community characteristics may play in processes relevant to the prevention of child maltreatment such as residents' attitudes towards reporting child physical abuse, and suggest that especially disadvantaged communities characterized by high levels of social disorder need to be specifically targeted if the aim is to increase the capacity to prevent child maltreatment in the community. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.