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Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is not a new problem. Historically, many societies practiced infanticide for population control and to eliminate children with birth defects. Although these acts may seem horrifying at the present, in ancient times children were often abandoned, smothered, or drowned. In the distant past, kings did not hesitate to eliminate unwanted contenders for the throne. It is well-known that in China the feet of female children were bound (Walker, Bonner, & Kaufman, 1988, p. 3). Children have been treated as slaves and exploited as industrial workers. Sexual relations with children has a long and ancient history. Many religious ceremonies and initiation rights in past civilizations involved sexual activity between adults and children.

One of the most surprising facts regarding child abuse is that it has only been recognized as a problem in recent times. One of the reasons for this is that traditionally children have been regarded as the property of their parents. As such, the parents were given a wide latitude in how they treated their children, much as one would regard the handling of material possessions.

The medical profession was the first to recognize that unexplained illness and injury in children needed attention. In 1860 Ambroise Tardieu, a Professor of Legal Medicine in Paris, wrote a paper based on the autopsy findings of 32 children who were killed by whipping and burning, the first description of what would now be called the battered child syndrome. In 1946, John Caffey, a specialist in pediatric radiology, wrote an article in which he discussed unexplainable injuries in young children. He was especially interested in multiple fractures of the long bones in infants which were found to be in several different stages of healing. These fractures were often associated with subdural hematomas (Walker, Bonner, & Kaufman, 1988, p. 6).

Presently, all the states in the United States have laws rega...

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Child Maltreatment. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:07, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1681654.html