NCJ Number
66452
Journal
Children and Youth Services Review Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (SUMMER 1979) Pages: 177-204
Date Published
1979
Length
28 pages
Annotation
THE HISTORY OF THE CHILD PROTECTION MOVEMENT IN THE U.S. IS TRACED FROM THE BEGINNINGS TO ITS PRESENT (1979) STATUS.
Abstract
THE CHILD PROTECTION MOVEMENT EVOLVED OUT OF THE ANIMAL PROTECTIVE LEAGUES, WHICH EMERGED AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, ALONG WITH OTHER PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS. ALTHOUGH THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN IN RELATION TO PARENTS AND OTHER GUARDIANS HAD GRADUALLY EVOLVED THROUGHOUT THE 1800'S, LITTLE PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE IN PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM PHYSICAL BRUTALITY, SINCE THE PARENTAL RIGHT TO DISCIPLINE CHILDREN BY CORPORAL PUNISHMENT WAS AN ACCEPTED AND WIDELY PRACTICED PRINCIPLE OF COMMON LAW. HOWEVER, ONCE THE ANALOGY WAS MADE THAT THE CHILD WAS IN FACT A HELPLESS ANIMAL, AS IN THE HISTORIC MARY ELLEN CASE IN NEW YORK, IT BECAME POSSIBLE TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM PARENTAL PHYSICAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT. IN THE LATE 1800'S AND EARLY 1900'S, CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETIES DEVELOPED IN MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, AND OTHER STATES. ALL ESPOUSED THE BASIC GOAL OF PREVENTING CRUELTY TO CHILDREN AND INTERVENING ON THEIR BEHALF WHEN NECESSARY. BY THE 1930'S, MANY IMPORTANT CHANGES WITHIN CHILD PROTECTION WORK HAD BEEN EFFECTED. THE GROWING ACCEPTANCE BY STATES, COUNTIES, AND MUNICIPALITIES OF THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROTECTIVE WORK SYMBOLIZED A NEW ERA IN THE CHILD WELFARE MOVEMENT. PASSAGE OF THE FEDERAL SOCIAL SECURITY ACT IN 1935 PROVIDED THE FIRST FINANCIAL GRANTS TO STATES SPECIFICALLY FOR CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES. FINALLY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL CASEWORK METHODS AND THE GREAT INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS IN THE 1920'S AND 1930'S FURTHER EMPHASIZED FAMILY CASEWORK AS THE PRINCIPAL METHOD OF TREATMENT IN CHILD PROTECTIVE WORK. THE ORIGINAL EMPHASIS ON PREVENTING PHYSICAL ABUSE WANED BECAUSE THE PHENOMENON WAS PERCEIVED TO HAVE DECREASED SINCE THE LATE 1800'S. CONCERN WITH EMOTIONAL FACTORS BECAME PARAMOUNT AND GREATER EMPHASIS WAS GIVEN TO PERMISSIVE, VOLUNTARILY SOUGHT SERVICES. BY THE 1950'S, THE PROTECTIVE APPROACH ORGANIZED AROUND LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS REPLACED BY SOCIAL WORKERS AND CASEWORK METHODS. IN THE 1960'S, CHILD ABUSE AGAIN BECAME A NATIONAL ISSUE; LEGISLATION REQUIRING THE REPORTING OF SUSPECTED CASES OF ABUSE WAS PASSED IN EVERY STATE AND THE FEDERAL CENTER ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT WAS CREATED. REFERENCES AND FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (PRG)