Socio-Economic Status: A Determinant of Abuse among Rural Adolescents

Child abuse is a social problem which varies from family to family in different cultures and societies. It has indelible effects on physical and psychological wellbeing of a child. The present study was carried out in India on a sample of 310 abused adolescents identified from a larger sample of 1000 from six rural locations using a Personal Information Sheet, a Self-structured Assessment Performa relating to abuse and a Socio-economic Status Scale. Analysis of Variance and t-Test were used to analyze the data. Inferences of the study revealed high prevalence of abuse in the low socio-economic status families. Girls experienced more of emotional abuse irrespective of their socio-economic status. No significant differences in the abuse experienced by younger and older adolescents were recorded in low and middle class families; however the younger adolescents experienced more abuse in high socio-economic status families.