CPS Child Protective Services
MDHS MS Department of Human Services
CAC Child Advocacy Center
MDT Multiple Disciplinary Team
Child Maltreatment -abuse and/or neglect of children
-specific definitions vary by state
Child Abuse an act of commission; an act, generally deliberate, by a parent or caregiver that
results in harm or death to a child.
Child Neglect an act of omission; the failure of a parent or caregiver to meet the minimal physical
and psychological needs of a child
Childhood as a Construction -Childhood is a social and cultural construction
-the social institution of childhood:
--an actively negotiated set of social relationships within the early years of human
life are constituted
--the immaturity of children is a BIOLOGICAL FACT OF LIFE but the way this
immaturity is understood and made meaningful is a FACT OF CULTURE
Historical Constructions of Childhood -the natural child
-the romantic child
-the evangelical child
-from wage-earning to "childhood"
-the delinquent child-the child as child
-the schooled child
-the 'child-study' child
children of the nation
the psychological child (in psychological family)
-the child of the welfare state
the natural child 'tabula rasa' the cold as a blank slate (1693 Locke); children as corrupt (John
Wesley, Methodist leader); espoused the natural goodness of children (Rousseau)
the romantic child "original innocence", Blake saw childhood not as preparation for what was to come,
but as the source of 'innocence'; Wordsworth believed childhood was an age where
virtue was
domiciled, and everything thereafter was downhill rather than upward toward
maturity.
evangelical child originated in the Evangelical Revival and belief in Original Sin and the need for
redemption. Viewed children as corrupt nature and evil dispositions, which it should
be the great end of
education and childrearing to rectify.
, Perspectives in Child Advocacy and Maltreatment | Exam 1 Review & Practice Questions
wage-earner to childhood (1780-1840s) childhood was seen as constituting a separate and distinct set of
characteristics requiring protection and fostering through education
delinquent child by the 1850's the intention was to make children conform
to a middle-class notion of a properly constituted childhood, characterized by a state
of dependency. Extending childhood
beyond the traditional first seven years to under 16. Children had to be restored to
the position of
childhood (p. 44)
schooled child mass compulsory education, control (dependency and ignorance)
child-study child (1880s-1914): as a result of schooling, children became accessible research
subjects for sociologist, psychologist, doctors, and educators.
Children of the nation children were reconstructed as material investments in national progress
psychological child by 1918, one of the mind in terms of emotions, fantasies, dreams, instincts, and
habits. Emphasized the family and the role of the mother in rearing emotionally
balanced children.
child of welfare state this child has two main identities, as a family members and as a public responsibility
(individual citizen in a welfare democracy)
brief history of child maltreatment a complete understanding of child maltreatment requires the knowledge of historical
context. some argue that maltreatment is on the rise, others say there is just more
reporting these days; an ongoing debate; mostly centers on US from 1970s on
(when states started keeping track of such things).
ancient history -infanticide
-roman law of twelve tables
-sexual abuse was condoned in some cultures