Child abuse

On July 27, 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh entered a Florida department store with his mother. He was abducted by a stranger, and his remains were found two weeks later. The tragedy of the young boy's murder—a brutal crime that was never brought to trial—shocked the nation. His devastated family and supporters channeled their grief and anger in a positive way―to protect other children from sexual...

By Caren Harp, Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a critical partner to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), serving as a resource to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization. Since its founding in 1984, NCMEC has helped recover more than 296,000 missing children...

There is no single definition of a gang, but there are a number of widely accepted criteria for classifying groups as gangs (Decker and Curry, 2003; Esbensen et al., 2001; Klein, 1995; Miller, 1992; Spergel, 1995). This review used the following criteria: (1) the group has three or more members, generally aged 12-24; (2) members share an identity, typically linked to a name and/or symbols...

A study of a national sample of American children found that over the past year 60 percent were exposed to violence, crime, or abuse in their homes, schools, and communities. Almost 40 percent of American children were direct victims of 2 or more violent acts, and 1 in 10 were victims of violence 5 or more times. Children are more likely to be exposed to...