NCJ Number
101210
Date Published
1985
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article examines the definition, incidence, causation, management, and prevention of child abuse.
Abstract
Child abuse, broadly defined, includes neglect, battering, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and negligent treatment or maltreatment. The true extent of child abuse is not known because many cases go unreported or unrecognized. In 1973, the reporting rate in the United States was 350 cases per million population. In Canada, the rate is estimated to be 250 cases per million population. Violence toward children represents a social derivative of biological, psychological, and cultural interations; theories of causation must be framed in terms of these factors. Various models have examined the etiology of child abuse in terms of psychodynamics, personality or character traits, social learning, family structure, mental illness, environmental stress, and social-psychological factors. While none of these models is complete in itself, each contains a core of determinants important to an understanding of child abuse. Management of child abuse aims at protecting the child and rehabilitating the parents through supportive psychotherapy, social casework, custodial treatments, crisis intervention, and self-help groups. Prevention requires a social commitment to appropriate support for parents and children that includes public information and education, legislative initiatives, and coordinated and integrated service delivery. 33 references.