NCJ Number
199083
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 11 Issue: 6 Dated: November – December 2002 Pages: 359-379
Date Published
November 2002
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article examines the results of two Singapore studies in order to assess the possibility that professionals’ attitudes to child maltreatment reflects the culture in which the professional was raised.
Abstract
Drawing on research conducted in Singapore in 1994 concerning the issue of public perceptions of child abuse and neglect, the authors suggest that cultural influences can create difficulties in identifying child abuse even among child welfare professionals. After discussing that cross-cultural differences in raising children may make it difficult to distinguish discipline from abuse, the authors suggest that professionals dealing with child abuse and neglect may forget that they are also members of a particular socio-cultural environment and that different cultural groups have different definitions concerning what constitutes child abuse and neglect. Focusing on the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the authors maintain that there is an obligation to ensure that child welfare professionals are familiar with Convention standards and parental and children’s rights. Focusing on previous survey results comparing different ethnic groups’ reactions to burning, tying up, shaking, slapping, and caning children, the authors suggest that members of different professions involved in child maltreatment issues are not in agreement concerning what actually comprises abuse. The authors argue that cultural variations in different ethnic groups’ childcare and socialization practices explain the wide diversity among child welfare practitioners concerning definitions of discipline, abuse, and neglect. Tables, references