A MODEL SYSTEM FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF CHILD ABUSE: CONCEPTUAL, ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Abstract

Child abuse can be seen as a phenomenon for which parental dysfunction is the cause; as an artifact of a system of child-rearing which encourages violent coercion to behavioral norms; and as a tragic expression of a culture which deprives some families of the services and goods of society. A program to prevent and control child abuse would see, measure, and act on each of these dimensions. It would comprehend their relative importance in the population and develop policies, evaluative tools and intervention methods to assure that children's and families' health and well-being would be sustained and promoted.

A Governor's Commission on Child Abuse found in a review of 961 case reports and a survey of 281 practitioners the familiar bias of selection for reporting toward poor and minority children and a striking, sevenfold ratio of unreported to reported cases. Subsequently, a new program was developed for Massachusetts which attends to recent advances in theory, practice, and law and implements a data-based system of case management.

Newly-passed legislation defines child abuse as a symptom of family crisis. A case registry and hotline provide a wider portal of entry into the existing service structure, and new services attend to local problem-solving methods and child-rearing traditions, as defined by citizen-based Councils for Children. The objective of the program is the improvement of families' functioning, rather than the simple physical protection of their offspring.

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