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DISCOVERY OF CHILD ABUSE Pfohl Purposeful beating of children historically legitimate for discipline, educational, religious obedience The Roman legal code, English common law and early American common law gave guardians limitless power over children. Children had no legal right to protection. American common law legitimated right of legal guardians to impose any punishment deemed necessary for child's upbringing Discovery is a recent phenomenon
Nineteenth Century Reform Movements House of Refuge Movement Sought to stem industrial social pathologies by removing youth endangered by corrupt urban environments to controlled institutional settings Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children In 1875 the SPCA intervened in the case of a young girl (Mary Ellen) who was severely Sought increased support for childcare institutions
The first juvenile court was established in Illinois in 1899 Sought removal of youthful offenders from adult institutions to House of Refuge institutions Sought to prevent lower class delinquency and rescue less fortunate Children and not guardians were the targets of prevention policies Courts did not label parents who abused children deviant Context for Discovery of Abuse Decline of Preventive Penology Advance of child protection In 1909 the White House Conference on Children produced the “Mother Aid” movement and the American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality Child protection began with a narrow focus on physical cruelty but gradually broadened to include physical neglect, abandonment, and child welfare The federal government began to regulate child labor and the removal of children from adult institutions Federal emphasis on keeping children in the family Low incentive to interfere with parental rights Between 1920 and 1960s child maltreatment declined as a concern when protective services were incorporated into child welfare services Discovery of abuse by pediatric radiologists Pediatric radiologists began researching long bone fractures of unspecified origin in children in the late 1940s
The causes of injuries in children began with diagnoses of parental carelessness, moved to parental irresponsibility, and finally settled on misconduct and deliberate injury.
Legal and social welfare agents outside the scene of abusive behavior or inside psychoanalytic perspective Physician-patient confidentiality Radiologists discover "battered child syndrome" Diagnostic categories a function of research rather than a precondition of medical mission Consequences By 1963 13 states mandated child abuse reporting by medical professionals By 1966 all 50 states had child abuse legislation enacted
Child Abuse and the Bureaucratization of Social Work Trends in Social Work During the 1950s and 1960s these was a shift among social workers from control and punishment to treatment and welfare Problem children were seen as the product of poorly functioning families Parents were perceived as lacking skills and emotional resources to raise children Battered children were the product of emotionally immature, psychologically inadequate parents There was a concern about the breakdown of the family and parental permissiveness
Public inquiries revealed that social workers did not know about or failed to recognize “warning signs” of child abuse (There are warning signs) Treatment techniques were judged to have failed to change dangerous into safe parents (Failure to treat) Welfare departments failed to process and monitor information systematically (Failure to process) Constructing the Abuse Problem There was a policy shift from returning families to competent functioning to protecting children from violence There was a policy shift from treatment and rehabilitation to surveillance and investigation. Family caseworkers became investigators Discretion for caseworkers was reduced Identifying risk factors
Stranger Intervention into Child Punishment
There has been a continuing trend toward privatization of the family leading to
Contesting Intervention
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILD ABUSE 1. Having been abused as a child 2. Stress 3. Stress and Job loss Work related tension4. Alcoholism 5. Authoritarianism
LABELING CHILD ABUSERS IN OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS Margolin
Cases involve accusations against babysitters Problems in Creating Material Evidence
Babysitter denial Children too young to provide testimony No witnesses Decision Rules Child's version considered true Child's testimony rejected only when child denied abuse Babysitters only regarded as credible when they confess Terminology refers to perpetrators Determining intentionality Physical damage intentional if act intentional
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