Child maltreatment is a widespread and costly social problem. A primary purpose of child maltreating reporting is to prevent its recurrence. Despite the widespread belief that the system designed to prevent its recurrence is failing miserably, little empirical data are actually compiled to support this contention. This article reviews available research on the rates, patterns, and frequency of child maltreatment recurrences. Findings are difficult to interpret and integrate because of differences in definitions, units of analysis, follow-up intervals, and data analysis strategies. Rates of recurrence range from 1% or 2% for cases deemed low-risk to over 50% for families followed more than 5 years. Findings from studies that have used survival analysis techniques seem to indicate that the risk of recurrence declines with intervention. Future research should be prospective, document definitions and methods, and use survival analysis so that this possible encouraging trend can be further examined.
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