Another Decline in Violence

Nag, nag, nag, I know. I sound like a broken record about Steven Pinker. But did you hear about the latest U.S. child abuse statistics?

A.P. reports that (despite the down economy, which is generally thought to increase family stress, right?) child abuse was down about 8.5 percent between 2008 and 2010, "reaching the lowest level since the current tracking system began in 1990." The number of fatalities has decreased a bit more, about 9.3 percent.

Sexual abuse is also down, having dropped 55 percent since its peak in 1992.