Resource Sheet
Number 6 December 2004

What is child abuse?

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Child abuse is an act by parents, caregivers, other adults or older adolescents that endangers a child or young person's physical or emotional health or development. Child abuse can be a single incident, but usually takes place over time.

Much disagreement exists about precisely which acts constitute child abuse:

• definitions of child abuse and neglect are dependent on cultural values and beliefs about appropriate childrearing and parenting - what is considered to be an adequate standard of care can vary between, and within, communities (Korbin, 1980, 1991);
• in Australia, there is no national definition of what constitutes child abuse and neglect - each state/territory has its own legislation and definitions; and
• despite the definitions that are outlined in legislation and for other purposes, it can be argued that in practice the process of labelling a case as constituting a certain type of child abuse is a process of judgement and ultimately rests on value decisions.

Although there are problems in arriving at clear, practical definitions of the various forms of child maltreatment, it is now common practice to classify child maltreatment or 'child abuse' according to four main types: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. It is important to note that children are often subjected to negative experiences from more than one of these categories (Higgins & McCabe, 2000). Experiencing multiple forms of abuse and neglect and the severity of the maltreatment are important factors influencing subsequent mental health outcomes (Higgins, 2004).

Physical Abuse

Child physical abuse takes place when a parent or caregiver causes physical injury by punching, hitting, kicking, beating, biting, burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child.

There is still much debate concerning whether physical or corporal punishment of children by parents, caregivers or teachers such as smacking should be defined as child abuse.

All Australian states and territories legally allow a parent or guardian the right to administer reasonable (i.e., not excessive) physical punishment to a child (Tucci., et al, 2002). New South Wales is the only state that has placed legislative limits on physical punishment to a child. This legislation was passed in 2000 and forbids parents to hit their children on the head, or to cause pain lasting more than an undefined short period time (Tucci et al., 2002).

Corporal punishment in government schools has been banned by legislation, regulation or policy in all Australian states and territories with the exception of the Northern Territory.

Sexual Abuse

The issue of defining sexual abuse is very complicated and there are many definitions of sexual abuse.

A commonly used definition of sexual abuse is: Any sexual activity between a child and an adult or older person (5 or more years older). Sexual activity includes fondling genitals, masturbation, oral sex, vaginal or anal penetration by a penis, finger or any other object, fondling of breasts, voyeurism, exhibitionism and exposing or involving the child in pornography (National Research Council, 1993).

Many definitions of sexual abuse specify the age difference between the perpetrator and the child or young adult, as it is usually considered that young people are not able to make a free and informed decision (i.e., consent) to engage in such sexual activities because of their lack of relative knowledge and power. However, concerns have been raised that definitions that specify age difference between the perpetrator and child or young person fail to take into account non-consensual sexual activity between peers (i.e., sexual assault and date-rape perpetrated by adolescents).

More recently, there has been a growing awareness of the issue of child sexual abuse over the Internet, which provides increased opportunities for the solicitation of children and the committing of abusive acts by offenders outside the family (Stanley, 2001).

Emotional/Psychological Abuse

The core issue of emotional (or psychological) abuse is that it is a sustained pattern of verbal abuse and harassment by an adult that results in damaging a child's self esteem or social competence.

James Garbarino and associates (Garbarino, 1978; Garbarino, Guttman, & Seeley, 1986) classified emotional abuse into five behavioural forms:

• rejecting: behaviours which communicate or constitute abandonment of the child, such as a refusal to show affection;
• isolating: preventing the child from participating in normal opportunities for social interaction;
• terrorising: threatening the child with severe or sinister punishment, or deliberately developing a climate of fear or threat;
• ignoring: where the caregiver is psychologically unavailable to the child and fails to respond to the child's behaviour; and
• corrupting: caregiver behaviour that encourages the child to develop values that reinforce antisocial or deviant behavioural patterns, such as aggression, criminal acts or substance abuse.

Other forms of emotional abuse have also been described in the literature:

• Verbal abuse is, perhaps, the core emotionally abusive behaviour. When used as part of a chronic pattern of interaction, things that may be considered as abusive include: verbal putdowns; negative prediction (eg, 'you'll never amount to anything'); constant negative comparison (eg, 'Why can't you be more like your sister?'); scapegoating; shaming; swearing; threats; and guilt trips (eg, 'How could you do that after all I've done for you?') (Schaefer, 1997).
• Witnessing domestic violence is often considered a form of emotional abuse. There is growing support for the experiences of children in families where there is physical and/or emotional violence between parents or with siblings (whether or not a child directly witnesses the violent acts) to be considered a distinct category of maltreatment (Parkinson, 1998).

Neglect

Neglect refers to a consistent pattern of behaviours that involve failure to provide for a child's basic needs. This category also includes fatalities that can be attributed to a caregiver's neglect of the child's needs (Lawrence & Irvine, 2004). Such acts are generally referred to as 'acts of omission'. In contrast, other forms of maltreatment such as physical and sexual abuse generally involve deliberate or active behaviours by an abuser.

Categories of neglect include:

• physical (eg, failure to provide adequate nutrition, personal hygiene, living environment, and/or supervision);
• medical neglect (eg, refusal or delay in providing general health, or mental health care) including on the grounds of religious beliefs;
• abandonment or desertion;
• emotional neglect (eg, not providing opportunities for mental/intellectual development; failure to emotionally nurture a child); and
• educational neglect (Tomison, 1995).

References and Further Reading

Corby, B. (2000). Child abuse: Towards a knowledge base (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.

Garbarino, J. (1978). 'The elusive 'crime' of emotional abuse'. Child Abuse & Neglect, 2, 89 - 99.

Garbarino, J., Guttman, E., & Seeley, J.W. (1986). The psychologically battered child. California: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Gawlick, J., Henning, T., & Warner, K. (2002). 'Physical punishment of children'. Issues paper no. 3. Hobart: Tasmania Law Reform Institute. Available at: www.law.utas.edu.au/reform/

Higgins, D. J. (2004). 'The importance of degree versus type of maltreatment: A cluster analysis of child abuse types'. The Journal of Psychology, 138, 303-324.

Higgins, D. J., & McCabe, M. P. (2000).'Relationships between different types of maltreatment during childhood and adjustment in adulthood'. Child Maltreatment, 5, 261-272.

Korbin, J. (1991). 'Cross-cultural perspectives and research directions for the 21st century'. Child Abuse & Neglect, 15, 67 - 77.

Korbin, J. E. (1980). 'Cultural context of child abuse and neglect'. Child Abuse & Neglect, 4, 3-13.

Lawrence, R., & Irvine, P. (2004). 'Fatal child neglect'. Issues in Child Abuse Prevention, 21, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

National Research Council (1993). Understanding child abuse and neglect. Washington DC: National Academy Press.

Parkinson, P., & Humphreys, C. (1998). 'Children who witness domestic violence - the implications for child protection'. Child and Family Law Quarterly, 10, 147-159.

Schaefer, C. (1997). 'Defining verbal abuse of children: A survey'. Psychological Reports, 80, 626.

Southwell, J. (2003). 'What is child sexual abuse: Re-thinking what we know'. Discussion paper no.4. Melbourne: Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre.

Stanley, J. (2001). 'Child abuse and the Internet'. Child Abuse Prevention Issues, 15, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Starr, R. H. Jr. (1988). 'Physical abuse of children'. In V.B. Van Hasselt, R.L. Morrison, A.S. Ballack, & M. Hersen (Eds.). Handbook of family violence. New York: Plenum Press.

Tomison, A. M. (1995). 'Spotlight on child neglect'. Issues in Child Abuse Prevention, 4, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Tomison, A. M. (2000). 'Exploring family violence: Links between child maltreatment and domestic violence'. Issues in Child Abuse Prevention, 13, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Tomison, A. M., & Tucci, J. (1997). 'Emotional abuse: The hidden form of maltreatment'. Issues in Child Abuse Prevention, 8, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Tower, C. C. (1989). Understanding child abuse and neglect. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Tucci, J., Saunders, B., & Goddard, C. (2002). Please don't hit me!: Community attitudes towards the 'physical punishment' of children. Ringwood: Australians Against Child Abuse.

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