Definitions of Abuse

Definitions of abuse

Neglect: Falls under a generic description of child abuse, but little realize that there are many forms of child neglect. Neglect is seen by most experts as an act of omission often related to parental deficits, which some divide into three categories: physical neglect, educational neglect, and emotional neglect (Black and Dubowitz, 1999; DePanfilis, 2006; DePanfilis and Salus, 2003; Smith and Fong, 2004). Physical neglect encompasses nonorganic failure to thrive, inadequate supervision, abandonment and failure to meet a child’s basic physical needs; medical neglect, which involves refusal to provide health care or a delay in getting health care; and educational neglect, which involves permitting truancy, failure to send a child to school or enroll him or her in school, and inattention to special education needs.

Substance-Abusing Families: When a parent abuses substance, it can lead to the maltreatment of a child. A parent under the influence of any substance can impose a form of abuse upon their child, and the parent is not adequately suited to be a parent. Like Neglect, there are a few subcategories of substance-abuse in families: prenatal abuse and substance abuse and children.

Physical Abuse: Per Childwelfare.gov (n.d.) “Physical abuse is generally defined as ‘any nonaccidental physical injury to the child’ and can include striking, kicking, burning, or biting the child, or any action that results in physical impairment of the child.” To different parties, such as the legal community and medical community, physical abuse is viewed differently. A medical professional will see abuse done to children as a syndrome and the parent is an ill individual whom needs to be cured. To a legal professional, the abuse is viewed as intentional. The parents have a moral and legal responsibility to their children, and when those responsibilities are ignored defies laws and in turn is