Portrayals of Child Abuse Scandals in the Media in Australia and England: Impacts on Practice, Policy, and Systems - Most Media Coverage Distorts the Public Understandings of the Nature of Child Maltreatment

• NCJ Number: 247187
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 38 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2014 Pages: 822-836
• Author(s): Bob Lonne; Nigel Parton
• Date Published: May 2014
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article critically analyzes how the Australian and British media portray child abuse scandals and the impact this has had on practice policy, and systems.

Abstract

On the positive side, the media in both countries have been important in portraying the prevalence and effects of child maltreatment, and it has advocated for the state's right to intervene in the privacy of families to protect children and provide services. The media have also exposed the failures of publicly supported systems to prevent and respond effectively to child maltreatment. There are also counterproductive aspects to media coverage of child maltreatment, however. In emphasizing the criminal justice response to child sexual and physical abuse, there is too little mention of neglect and emotional abuse. This distorts the public's understanding of what constitutes child abuse. Abusive parents are portrayed as particularly deviant and criminal, for whom the primary public response should be punishment. This focus on the particularly outrageous incidents and perpetrators of child maltreatment tends to obscure or ignore the social and structural determinants of child maltreatment, such as poverty and social exclusion. Public health approaches to child maltreatment are largely ignored in the media, i.e., failure to identify and address the social, economic, and psychological factors that spawn child abuse and neglect. In addition, media criticisms of public child protection systems as the primary institution responsible for preventing and responding to child maltreatment undermine staff morale, leading to turnover and negative personnel morale. Part of the work of those committed to countering child maltreatment is to interact with the media and individual journalists in developing a more informed and perceptive coverage of child maltreatment and its characteristics, causes, prevention, and effective responses. 18 resource listings