분야
pptxDefining and Explaining Child Abuse
Responding to Child Abuse
Five Key points
A nationally coordinated system of managing child abuse cases has evolved in the UK since the mid-1970s.
Estimates of the incidence and prevalence of child abuse which are based on these
registers vary widely, depending on how child abuse is defined, how many cases are identified and how representative they are of the whole child population.
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d, however, is declining.
On the other hand, since 1981 there has been an increase in registrations for sexual abuse.
Children registered for child abuse are in the main young. The average age for registration is seven years.
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4Defining and Explaining Child AbuseDefining and Explaining Child Abuse
There is no absolute definition of child abuse.
Official definitions of child abuse usually abusive incidents, taking into account whether there is definite knowledge of an intention to harm or knowingly not to prevent harm by any person having care or custody of the child.
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Harm includes:
physical injury; physical neglect and failure to thrive, e.g. exposure to dangerous circumstances or starvation.
emotional abuse where the health and development of the child is threatened; and.
sexual abuse where children under 17 years have been involved in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend or to which they do not give informed consent.
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Deciding a threshold where child abuse begins and normal control and discipline end is not easy.
High public and professional tolerance will reduce the numbers of children requiring investigation, registration and follow-up; low tolerance the converse.
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Explanations of abuse have evolved from and initial concentration on single factors - for example, the presence of distinguishing psychological characteristics in parents of abused children - to complex models of the interrelationship between multiple factors.
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Gelles and Browne in their models of the causes of family violence stress the importance of an interaction between psychological, cultural and social factors and family relationships.
Families already facing adversity - for example, inadequate hosing and unemployment - where poor parent and child relationships routinely feature, are considered more likely to resort to aggression in child upbringing.
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