Invited Commentary

The definition of child maltreatment: from case study to construct

Out-of-home placement decisions are complex and have a strong impact on children and their parents. Factors influencing these decisions can be grouped in four domains: case characteristics, decision maker characteristics, factors related to the organization of the decision maker, and external factors. This study aimed at investigating the role of case, worker and organization variables in an out-of-home placement decision. 95 Flemish child welfare workers were presented a vignette of a case of alleged child maltreatment and were asked to recommend an intervention. About 14% of workers recommended an out-of-home placement. Out of all variables, only the presence of physical neglect (OR = 3.94, p <.05), the risk of physical harm (OR = 3.28, p <.01) and the education level (OR = 5.21, p <.05) were significantly associated with the recommendation. Using purposeful selection of covariates a model with 9 variables was obtained with only one significant variables: the attitude ‘Against removal from home’ (OR = 0.12, p <.05). Decision making regarding out-of-home care by Flemish child welfare workers was associated with a negative attitude regarding removing children from home. Other variables had little influence. Methods in order to parcel out more the influence of worker variables and heighten the influence of case variables are strongly needed.

Child abuse and neglect is a serious public health problem affecting millions of children around the world. Over the years enormous efforts have been made globally to define this phenomenon, but those efforts have been based solely on adults‘ perspectives and knowledge. Children have been excluded from the discourse. This article addresses this gap in the scientific knowledge by examining children's own views on child abuse and neglect, taking into account differences in ethnic group, gender, age and level or religiosity. The study included 1,475 Jewish and Arab children in Israel aged 9–13 years. They were asked to assign degree of severity to each of 34 items describing abusive behaviors against children.. Arab and Jewish children differed in the severity they assigned to different kinds of abusive behaviors: Arab children perceived neglect as more severe than Jewish children, whereas Jewish respondents perceived physical and emotional abuse as more severe than Arab children. While no differences were found with regard to level of religiosity, some variance was found with respect to gender and age/grade level.

Children in migration experience various forms of violence before, on, and after their migration journey. Epidemiological research on the prevalence of violence in this highly vulnerable group is lacking, however.

A PRISMA-guided systematic literature review with a three-tiered search strategy was conducted by searching academic literature databases and gray literature on websites of international organizations and by contacting experts. All empirical studies published within the last 15 years were eligible. Predefined search terms related to violence, children, epidemiology, and migration were used.

Of 1014 records, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Sample sizes ranged from 100 to 8,047, with a total of 16,915 children (Mdn = 311). Lifetime prevalence of violence varied considerably: Child physical maltreatment ranged from 9 %–65 % and child sexual abuse from 5 %–20 %. For internally displaced children, violence often occurred at the hands of those who were responsible for their care. Unfortunately, data on the context and country in which the violence occurred—in the country of origin, on route, or in the country of arrival—were lacking.

The discrepancy between the importance of the topic and the dearth of data is striking. Filling the gaps requires not only more rigorous methodology but also more research in general on the epidemiology of violence against children in migration. We outline methodological challenges and draft an agenda for improved data on the topic. There is an urgent need for evidence that supports the development and adaptation of effective, tailored, and child-sensitive prevention and intervention programs for children in migration.

In 2015, 523 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect (CAN) were brought to the attention of the Confidential Center of Child Abuse and Neglect (CCCAN) of Brussels. Around 38% of these reports came from school personnel. This study investigated which factors affect the recognition of CAN by school personnel of Dutch-speaking primary education in Brussels and their intervention need. Two hundred seventy-nine staff members of 16 schools professionally working with children, filled in a Questionnaire Assessment of Situations of CAN. The instrument consists of 24 vignettes describing CAN. Respondents were asked questions regarding recognition and intervention need about each vignette. Detection, severity assessment, the need for professional help, the need for referral to a CCCAN and the need to involve judicial authorities were mainly associated with case characteristics. Although most situations of CAN were detected, situations of emotional abuse were less often recognized. Situations involving non-Western victims were considered to be more severe and the perceived need for involvement of professional help, CCCAN and judicial authorities was larger. Ethnic stereotypes affect the actions undertaken in case of CAN. Awareness of these reactions may result in equal treatment for all victims. Staff characteristics were little associated with detection and intervention need.

This study examined (a) the potential mediating roles of effortful control and classroom engagement in the association between harsh parenting and adolescent academic achievement, and (b) the potential moderating role of gender. Sixth through eighth graders in rural China (n = 815, mean age = 12.55 years) reported on harsh parenting, effortful control, and classroom engagement. Parents also reported on each other's harsh parenting. Academic achievement was assessed by students' test scores and teacher-rated academic performance. Results of structural equation modeling revealed gender differences in patterns of association among the model variables. Harsh parenting was negatively and directly associated with academic achievement for both boys and girls. It was also negatively and indirectly associated with academic achievement via effortful control and classroom engagement sequentially, forming a common indirect “path” for boys and girls. The indirect negative effect of harsh parenting on boys' academic achievement was mainly realized through the mediator of effortful control, whereas this same indirect effect for girls was mainly realized through the mediator of classroom engagement. Jointly, effortful control and classroom engagement precipitates more indirect effects for boys than for girls in the association between harsh parenting and academic achievement. The discussion analyzes the potential “paths” from harsh parenting to adolescent academic achievement, as well as gender differences in these “paths.” The current study has implications for teachers and parents eager to improve students' classroom engagement and academic achievement.

The main goal of this study was to compare differences within and between ethnic groups in their perspectives on what constituted child maltreatment and how severe (extreme, moderate, or mild) they perceived different types of maltreatment to be. A sample of 150 European American, Korean American, and Korean college students completed a survey asking them to give examples of parental behaviors that would be considered by people in their culture to be extreme, moderate, and mild forms of child abuse. The responses were coded for maltreatment types (e.g., physical, psychological, neglect) and subtypes (e.g., hitting). The frequency with which different types of maltreatment were considered abusive varied within ethnicity based on designated level of severity. These findings suggest that arbitrarily categorizing a child’s maltreatment experience into a rigid, pre-determined hierarchy of maltreatment types without considering the severity of different forms of maltreatment can result in overlooking valuable information. Moreover, fewer European Americans than Koreans identified psychological aggression as an extremely abusive type of abuse as well as in their total examples of abuse. European Americans placed greater emphasis on physical aggression, whereas Koreans focused more on psychological aggression and neglect. In perceptions of abuse, Korean Americans were more similar to European Americans than to Koreans. We recommend that when evaluating level of child abuse, investigators and researchers should take into account the different levels of severity within each type of maltreatment and the behaviors that are considered normative within different cultures.