NCJ Number
206638
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 18 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2003 Pages: 338-355
Editor(s)
Jon R. Conte
Date Published
April 2003
Length
18 pages
Annotation
By drawing on data from legislative reviews, child protective services, and individual-level definitions, this article examines conceptual discontinuities in official definitions of child maltreatment in relation to domestic violence failure to protect matters.
Abstract
Many times, the various types of child maltreatment do not exist in isolation from other forms of family abuse, violence, and disorder. There are some that would regard the presence of domestic violence in a family as synonymous with emotional abuse or neglect of a child or no different from family situations where there is a presumed failure to protect the child from physical or sexual maltreatment by another. This article attempts to conceptually analyze factors that can influence a paradigm of domestic violence-related failure to protect and to identify the problems that are inherent in such definitions as viewed from the levels of law, system practices, and the individual. Data are drawn for illustrative purposes from legislative updates and an ongoing child maltreatment study. What are examined are the official definitions of child maltreatment, child protective services (CPS) definitions of failure to protect, and individual-level definitions of domestic violence-related failure to protect issues. In addition, implications are considered for policy, practice, and research. In conclusion, recently, some States have considered and passed legislation making the witnessing of domestic violence a form of criminal child abuse. Tables, references