According to the National Children's Advocacy Center, almost three million cases of suspected child abuse and neglect are reported each year. That is nearly one child every ten seconds. A survey conducted by Children's Institute International found that about one-fourth of people in the United States has witnessed child abuse. Despite that alarming statistic, one-third of those people have reported the incident that they witnessed. There are several reasons that people put in this type of situation might give for not reporting this terrible crime that they have witnessed. Sometimes, people are afraid to report abuse or neglect because they do not want to break up a family. Sometimes, people are afraid to get involved in someone else's problem (Witnessing, 20). In fact, a recent study conducted by Prevent Child Abuse America found that 57% of people did not report because they "didn't think it was any of their business". Others gave the excuse that they did not know what the right response would be, while still others thought that they might be overreacting (Witnessing, 21)

Despite the fact that many people do not report abusive behavior that they have witnessed there are several g

 only investigate reports of severe neglect or abuse.

While reporting laws are usually clear about who is required to report suspected maltreatment, they are often vague about exactly what kinds of injuries or behaviors should be reported. The reason for this is that many local statuettes define abuse and neglect in broad terms or not at all. Conditions that are specifically mentioned range from serious physical injuries to vaguely defined mental injuries and neglect (Clark, 189). Not only do states have different definitions of abuse, but they also may apply different procedures and criteria for screening out and investigating reports. For example, some states:

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Approximate Word count = 1068
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)