Child Maltreatment - Crime and Care Issues

Crime and care issues

Word count: 3085

1. Introduction

        Child maltreatment, which includes child abuse and child neglect, has been the focus of extensive research for decades. With millions of children maltreated worldwide, child maltreatment is an important public health concern for several reasons. Early maltreatment may have a negative effect on later social and psychological performance of an individual. In particular, maltreatment in childhood can lead to aggression, violence, and delinquency in adulthood. Many young people in the justice system have had contact with child protection services at an earlier age. Victims of childhood neglect and abuse are more likely to have contact with youth justice systems. In Australia, researchers have shown a strong association between child abuse and juvenile delinquency. However, most children who experience maltreatment will not engage in criminal behaviour. This underscores the need for research to understand the characteristics and trajectories of children and young people under child protection and youth justice supervision to enhance services available to them, including through the development of better government policy frameworks. This paper examines the link between child maltreatment and crime based on the relevant literature on this issue. First, this paper will outline definitions and statistics with respect to child maltreatment in Australia. Next, the paper will discuss criminological and sociological theories that attempt to explain child maltreatment and its link with crime.

1. Definitions and data

        The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) define maltreatment as actions that result in harm or possible harm to the child’s health, development or self-worth and that occur within relationships of responsibility, power or trust (WHO and ISPCAN 2006: 9). The definition includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, blaming the child, threatening or any other non-physical abuse. Physical abuse includes the use of force against the child. Sexual abuse is involving the child in sexual activity with or without their consent. Neglect is lack of proper care to provide for the needs of the child, such as education, wellbeing, food, accommodation, and safety (Braga 2017). In addition, children may be affected by witnessing violence and abuse in their home environment (Braga 2017). Antisocial behaviour includes violations of social norms and values through actions such as lies, theft, and violence (Kazdin 1992). Antisocial behaviour also includes delinquency and violations of criminal law (Braga 2017).

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