How To Define Child Abuse and Neglect?

This paper examines definitions of child abuse and neglect as put forth by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984. Four types of child abuse and neglect are identified and briefly described: physical abuse, child neglect, sexual abuse, and mental injury (...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Wasserman, Nora M
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 1992
Subjects
Child Abuse
Child Neglect
Definitions
Sexual Abuse
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Summary:This paper examines definitions of child abuse and neglect as put forth by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984. Four types of child abuse and neglect are identified and briefly described: physical abuse, child neglect, sexual abuse, and mental injury (also referred to as emotional/psychological abuse). The prevalence of child abuse is examined and statistics are given for the various types of abuse. A section examining why child abuse and neglect occur looks at individual characteristics of the parents and the children, family interactions, environmental conditions, the child's age, the child's gender, family income, family size, race, and geographic location. Suggestions are given for how to recognize child abuse and neglect and examples of cases of abuse and neglect are provided. Other sections focus on who should report suspected child abuse and neglect and what happens after a report is filed with Child Protective Services. A final section considers how these children and their families can be helped. (Contains 25 references.) (NB)