Child Abuse and Neglect

Child abuse includes all forms of physical and emotional mistreatment, sexual abuse, and neglect of a child’s basic needs, which results in actual or potential harm to a child’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Exploitation of children is also a form of abuse and includes trafficking for sexual or economic purposes, and recruitment of children into armed forces.

An abused child may experience many forms of mistreatment in any one incident or over time; for example, emotional harm is a pervading factor in all types of abuse. The abuser may be a family member, a stranger, another child, or someone responsible for a child's well-being, such as a teacher or caretaker.

Children in every society are vulnerable to abuse, gender based violence, and exploitation, however children without parental care and those in high risk environments such as conflict areas, refugee camps, on the street, or in institutions, are particularly exposed to violence, denial of their basic human rights, and deprivation. All abuse has its origins in power imbalance and therefore is typically associated with fear, secrecy, and control. This makes identifying and speaking out about abuse very difficult for children, family members, the community and social services, particularly when it is committed within the privacy of the home.

Child abuse can cause physical and psychosocial problems, including HIV/AIDS infection, and is particularly damaging when repeated over a period of time. Children may manifest abuse via destructive or withdrawn behaviours, developmental delays, injuries or other health problems. The effects of abuse will vary from child to child and depend on the source, type and extent of the abuse, the child’s developmental stage and their disposition or resilience.

The process of identifying and responding to abuse requires skilled interventions in order to prevent further harm to the child, and will typically include police, medical, psychological, and social services in order to address the safety, physical, and emotional needs of the affected children. Any care plan must be in the best interests of the child and protect them and their siblings from harm. This will include consideration of the additional risks of abuse that are present for children in institutions and care placements. Such closed environments are extremely susceptible to abuse since they are frequently isolated, insufficiently regulated, and lacking in adequate supervision and safe reporting procedures. It is the role of social services to screen and monitor all child placements, including institutional, kinship, and foster care, to ensure the child’s safety and well-being.

It is the responsibility of the whole community to protect its children. Education and community awareness for children and adults on the risks, signs of abuse, and responses is vital for children without parental care and those in high risk situations, such as during a conflict or displacement when sexual violence, exploitation, and recruitment into armed forces are prevalent.

The literature in this section describes the types of abuse in more detail, including gender based violence, and provides example child protection procedures, policy papers, and other intervention tools.

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A Spatiotemporal Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on Child Abuse and Neglect in the City of Los Angeles, California

Gia E. Barboza, Lawrence B. Schiamberg, Layne Pachl - Child Abuse & Neglect, 16 Sep 2020

The purpose of this study was to provide unique insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of child abuse and neglect (CAN) in relation to COVID-19 outcomes and identify areas where CAN has increased or decreased during the pandemic.

How can services be improved to effectively address the mental health of vulnerable children and young people?

Victoria Lidchi & Andy Wiener - Child Abuse & Neglect, 11 Sep 2020

This discussion article describes a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the United Kingdom developed to meet the mental health needs of children and young people particularly those vulnerable children and young people at risk of actual or potential harm through child abuse and neglect, but may not be therapy ready.

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Hidden scars: the impact of violence and the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health

Najat Maalla M’jid - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 10 Sep 2020

This article outlines how the risk of children experiencing violence has increased and how the pandemic has weakened the capacity of child protection and mental health services to respond.

Is there an additional effect on the risk of entry into out-of-home care from having parent(s) born outside of Europe in cases of alleged physical child abuse? – findings from Sweden

Henrik Karlsson - Nordic Social Work Research, 09 Sep 2020

This study’s objective was (1) to investigate if having parent(s) born outside of Europe has an additional effect on the risk of entry into out-of-home care (OHC) in cases of alleged parental physical violence against children, and (2) to discuss potential empirical support for the risk model and the bias model for explaining the over-representation.

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Assisting decisions in child protection service institutions with the RIC – The Risk Indication in Child sexual abuse

Brigitte C. Hansmann and Reinhard Eher - Child Abuse & Neglect, 08 Sep 2020

The RIC (Risk Indication in Child sexual abuse) and its screening version (RIC:SV) are actuarial risk assessment instruments, developed at the Austrian Federal Evaluation Centre for Violent and Sexual Offenders and designed for child protection services to assess the likelihood of sexual recidivism in male contact child sexual abusers who still or again live within a family including children.

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The Hidden Impact of COVID-19 on Child Protection and Wellbeing

Daniela Ritz, Georgina O’Hare, Melissa Burgess, Munshi Sulaiman, Silvia Mila Arlini - Save the Children International, 01 Sep 2020

This report is one in a series presenting findings from Save the Children's Global COVID-19 Research Study. The results presented here focus on the implications for Child Protection issues.

The Guidebook to Childhood Trauma and the Brain

Eamon McCrory, 01 Sep 2020

This resource is designed to help professionals and carers understand the latest neuroscience research on childhood abuse and neglect, with insights and advice from clinicians, teachers, and social workers on how to put your learning into practice.

Suffering in silence: How COVID-19 school closures inhibit the reporting of child maltreatment

E. Jason Baron, Ezra G. Goldstein, and Cullen T. Wallace - Journal of Public Economics, 21 Aug 2020

This study examines an unexplored consequence of COVID-19 school closures: the broken link between child maltreatment victims and the number one source of reported maltreatment allegations—school personnel.

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Judging parental competence: A cross‐country analysis of judicial decision makers' written assessment of mothers' parenting capacities in newborn removal cases

Jenny Krutzinna and Marit Skivenes - Child & Family Social Work, 16 Aug 2020

This paper examines the discretionary reasoning of the judiciary in three jurisdictions, England, Germany and Norway, in cases deciding whether a newborn child is safe with her parents or intervention is necessary.

Measuring violence against children: The adequacy of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) child abuse screening tool - Child version in 9 Balkan countries

Franziska Meinck, Aja L. Murray, Michael P. Dunne, Peter Schmidt - Child Abuse & Neglect, 31 Jul 2020

Researchers are increasingly using self-report measures of physical, psychological, and sexual violence and neglect for population-based surveys. The current gold-standard measure, the 45-item ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool has been used across the world. This study assesses its adequacy for measuring abuse across countries.

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