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Book Review: Child Abuse: A Community Concern

Book Review: Child Abuse: A Community Concern BOOK REVIEWS 287 The authors have prepared a most useful record of a little known aspect of Australian and New Zealand policing and in so doing have made a useful contribution to the police historical record. BRUCE SWANTON Canberra Child Abuse: A Community Concern, edited by Kim Oates, North Ryde, New South Wales, Butterworths (1982) xiv, 321 pp, $35. The expressed purpose of this work is to "place child abuse in a broad perspective, as a problem concerning the whole community". The authors of the 26 selections indicate that many types of professionals are seeking child abuse remedies: anthropologists, journalists, lawyers, nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists, and various types of social service personnel. And their solutions are equally diverse, ranging from the strengthening of mother-infant attachments in the hospital, to using community nurses in family intervention, to the destruction of patriarchy. The editor's opening chapter briefly reviews the history of public recognition of child abuse and touches on the themes of the chapters to come. The next eight selections deal primarily with in-hospital research and programmes concerning the earliest contacts between parents and infants. The assumption of these chapters is that the nature of early contacts affects the likelihood of future abuse. Chapter 10, by the editor, reviews the literature on some family characteristics which might distinguish abusing from non-abusing families. Unfortunately, stress, which many social science researchers believe to be of primary importance, is not discussed in detail anywhere in the book. Chapter 11, also by Oates, describes non-organic causes of growth lack among children - a phenomenon known as "failure to thrive". Chapter 13 considers a variety of physiological and emotional consequences of physical abuse. Chapters 12 and 14 through 19 describe various community programmes: Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program of Santa Clara County, California; New South Wales Child Life Protection Unit; community nurse programmes; a Tasmanian child abuse management programme; New South Wales Child Abuse Prevention Service; family day centres; and American media campaigns designed to educate and mobilize the public on the issue of child abuse. A major omission among these chapters is the description of a school programme designed to help teachers identify victims of abuse and to educate children about avoiding sexual molestation. The final seven chapters lean toward speculation and theory. The best of these articles address children's rights, differences across cultures and time about what constitutes inappropriate treatment of children, and the limitations and goals of the movement to protect children from violence. These chapters will be thought-provoking, if not controversial, for readers interested in the philosophical and social questions involved in defining child abuse. The book's diversity is both its strength and its weakness. Since the editor has attempted to cover a good deal of material, the articles, with a few exceptions, lack the depth and detail expected by researchers or practitioners familiar with the basic child abuse literature. But for the uninitiated and those seeking an introduction to programmes dealing with abuse, the book will be a helpful primer. CHARLES H MCCAGHY Bowling Green, Ohio http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology SAGE

Book Review: Child Abuse: A Community Concern

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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© The Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and Authors, 1984
ISSN
0004-8658
eISSN
1837-9273
DOI
10.1177/000486588401700416
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS 287 The authors have prepared a most useful record of a little known aspect of Australian and New Zealand policing and in so doing have made a useful contribution to the police historical record. BRUCE SWANTON Canberra Child Abuse: A Community Concern, edited by Kim Oates, North Ryde, New South Wales, Butterworths (1982) xiv, 321 pp, $35. The expressed purpose of this work is to "place child abuse in a broad perspective, as a problem concerning the whole community". The authors of the 26 selections indicate that many types of professionals are seeking child abuse remedies: anthropologists, journalists, lawyers, nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists, and various types of social service personnel. And their solutions are equally diverse, ranging from the strengthening of mother-infant attachments in the hospital, to using community nurses in family intervention, to the destruction of patriarchy. The editor's opening chapter briefly reviews the history of public recognition of child abuse and touches on the themes of the chapters to come. The next eight selections deal primarily with in-hospital research and programmes concerning the earliest contacts between parents and infants. The assumption of these chapters is that the nature of early contacts affects the likelihood of future abuse. Chapter 10, by the editor, reviews the literature on some family characteristics which might distinguish abusing from non-abusing families. Unfortunately, stress, which many social science researchers believe to be of primary importance, is not discussed in detail anywhere in the book. Chapter 11, also by Oates, describes non-organic causes of growth lack among children - a phenomenon known as "failure to thrive". Chapter 13 considers a variety of physiological and emotional consequences of physical abuse. Chapters 12 and 14 through 19 describe various community programmes: Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program of Santa Clara County, California; New South Wales Child Life Protection Unit; community nurse programmes; a Tasmanian child abuse management programme; New South Wales Child Abuse Prevention Service; family day centres; and American media campaigns designed to educate and mobilize the public on the issue of child abuse. A major omission among these chapters is the description of a school programme designed to help teachers identify victims of abuse and to educate children about avoiding sexual molestation. The final seven chapters lean toward speculation and theory. The best of these articles address children's rights, differences across cultures and time about what constitutes inappropriate treatment of children, and the limitations and goals of the movement to protect children from violence. These chapters will be thought-provoking, if not controversial, for readers interested in the philosophical and social questions involved in defining child abuse. The book's diversity is both its strength and its weakness. Since the editor has attempted to cover a good deal of material, the articles, with a few exceptions, lack the depth and detail expected by researchers or practitioners familiar with the basic child abuse literature. But for the uninitiated and those seeking an introduction to programmes dealing with abuse, the book will be a helpful primer. CHARLES H MCCAGHY Bowling Green, Ohio

Journal

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology – SAGE

Published: Dec 1, 1984

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