CMAS 258 exam 1 2025 LATEST
UPDATE!!!
What is child maltreatment? - ANSWER -a generic term that includes abuse and neglect
-the term maltreatment is generally used in research, but not always in practice/ policy
-notably, sometimes laws will use the term "child abuse" to refer to abuse and neglect
CPS - ANSWER -child protective services
~most general term and refers to the system that investigates and responds to
allegations of child maltreatment
~frequently called "social services" which is an older and less specific term
-people may also use state specific terms, in PA its CYS
civil statutes - ANSWER ~always lower, can't deprive people of their fundamental liberty
~allegations found to be true but not offensive
~to terminate someone's parental rights it has to have a clear and convincing argument
criminal statutes - ANSWER severe abuse
research - ANSWER ~variable
~mandatory reports to CPS > have to report everything they see
lay definitions - ANSWER ~they way we generally talk about maltreatment
~based on community standards or culture > lots of disagreement
When, What and by Whom of maltreatment - ANSWER -has to be recent >statute of
limitations to protect the accused
~effort to change statute of limitations with sexual abuse cases
-act or fail to act
-on the part of a parent or caretaker
act or failure to act - ANSWER ~doesn't have to be something that you do, can also be
something that you don't do
-parents have responsibility to provide for kids, when they fail to meet their basic
needs= failure to act
-someone else if harming child and parent fails to intervene even if they know about it=
failure to act
~tends to be controversial especially in cases of domestic violence
on the part of a parent or caretaker - ANSWER ~very restrictive > generally assumed
that if someone other than parent/caretaker abuses a child it can be taken care of by the
parental figures/other adults in the household
~being able to remove child from the person causing the abuse/neglect
~Pennsylvania has more exceptions than most states
,Physical abuse - ANSWER ~generally defined as a "non-accidental physical injury"
~areas of variability/subjectivity
-type or level of injury required
-acts that did not, but could, result in injury
sexual abuse - ANSWER ~"sexual abuse or exploitation" Any of the following:
~"The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enforcement or coercion of a child to
engage in or assist another individual to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which
includes but is not limited to the following-(for the purpose of sexual arousal or
gratification)
-viewing intimate parts of a child
-participating (by any means) in sexually explicit conversation with a child
-actual or simulation sexual activity or nudity
emotional abuse - ANSWER ~this is variously referred to as "mental injury" or
"psychological abuse" and encompasses verbal abuse
~requires a professional diagnosis to prove it
physical neglect - ANSWER ~an inability or unwillingness to provide for a child's basic
needs
EX. food, water, shelter, hygiene, medical care, safety/protection from others
supervision neglect - ANSWER ~sometimes simply called "general neglect"; difficult to
define
~includes both "lack of supervision" and "inadequate supervision"
**sometimes supervision counts as a basic need under physical neglect, but it's
significantly different construct so we will, where possible, separate physical and
supervision neglect**
~substance abuse is usually a factor
emotional neglect - ANSWER ~failure to attend to child's emotional needs; this would
generally refer to the absence of love, attention and stimulation
educational neglect - ANSWER a parent's failure to provide for a child's basic needs
with regards to school and education.
legal neglect - ANSWER ~child without a legally responsible caregiver
~would include abandonment, relinquishment, re-homing
international issues of maltreatment - ANSWER -other forms of child maltreatment that
aren't frequently encountered in the U.S., but are prevalent in other parts of the world
~child labor
~child soldiering
-engages children with violence at a very young age; not mentally/emotionally capable,
involuntary
, -child marriage
Key issues in defining maltreatment - ANSWER -requires a threshold
~why is this a problem? > lot of gray area, spectrum
~why do we need thresholds at all? > people disagree on where the line should be,
decides who gets services and who doesn't
-who decides?
~U.S. > federal government, states have ability to set laws
Medical-Psychological Approach - ANSWER ~key elements: create a profile for
perpetrators
~Goals: identify people before they perpetrate maltreatment
Sociological Perspectives - ANSWER ~labeling: can't separate the definition of
maltreatment from the culture in which it occurs, who is doing the labeling and why is an
important part in this process > constructed by people looking at a narrow set of
conditions, the label itself of being a perpetrator of maltreatment is stigmatized;
differential-response > two systems, child protective services & general protective
services (handles about 75% of cases, typically neglect); PA has some of the most strict
laws for expungement
~culture: cultural values determine roles that children and parents have, purpose for
having children > different parenting expectations
~situational: people behave based on the constraints of their environment
interactionist perspective - ANSWER ~everything matters!
-individual characteristics and the roles of institutions
Official rates in the United States of maltreatment - ANSWER -what is reported by the
government about prevalence
-2004 estimate: 702,000 children were determined to be victims of child maltreatment
-less than 1% of all children
~not all children are investigated
~most are victims of neglect
-annual not cumulative
~incidence rate not a prevalence rate > suggests that maltreatment is more rare than it
is
-medical neglect is counted separately
Assumptions of the official rates - ANSWER 1. All maltreatment that occurs is
discovered by someone or directly disclosed by the victim
~kids afraid of backlash from telling someone
~want to protect person > fear of what will happen if they bring info forward
~child might not know that it's wrong> might not bring it up
-good touch vs. bad touch
~kids don't think people will believe them; traumatic=blocked out and don't remember it
till later
UPDATE!!!
What is child maltreatment? - ANSWER -a generic term that includes abuse and neglect
-the term maltreatment is generally used in research, but not always in practice/ policy
-notably, sometimes laws will use the term "child abuse" to refer to abuse and neglect
CPS - ANSWER -child protective services
~most general term and refers to the system that investigates and responds to
allegations of child maltreatment
~frequently called "social services" which is an older and less specific term
-people may also use state specific terms, in PA its CYS
civil statutes - ANSWER ~always lower, can't deprive people of their fundamental liberty
~allegations found to be true but not offensive
~to terminate someone's parental rights it has to have a clear and convincing argument
criminal statutes - ANSWER severe abuse
research - ANSWER ~variable
~mandatory reports to CPS > have to report everything they see
lay definitions - ANSWER ~they way we generally talk about maltreatment
~based on community standards or culture > lots of disagreement
When, What and by Whom of maltreatment - ANSWER -has to be recent >statute of
limitations to protect the accused
~effort to change statute of limitations with sexual abuse cases
-act or fail to act
-on the part of a parent or caretaker
act or failure to act - ANSWER ~doesn't have to be something that you do, can also be
something that you don't do
-parents have responsibility to provide for kids, when they fail to meet their basic
needs= failure to act
-someone else if harming child and parent fails to intervene even if they know about it=
failure to act
~tends to be controversial especially in cases of domestic violence
on the part of a parent or caretaker - ANSWER ~very restrictive > generally assumed
that if someone other than parent/caretaker abuses a child it can be taken care of by the
parental figures/other adults in the household
~being able to remove child from the person causing the abuse/neglect
~Pennsylvania has more exceptions than most states
,Physical abuse - ANSWER ~generally defined as a "non-accidental physical injury"
~areas of variability/subjectivity
-type or level of injury required
-acts that did not, but could, result in injury
sexual abuse - ANSWER ~"sexual abuse or exploitation" Any of the following:
~"The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enforcement or coercion of a child to
engage in or assist another individual to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which
includes but is not limited to the following-(for the purpose of sexual arousal or
gratification)
-viewing intimate parts of a child
-participating (by any means) in sexually explicit conversation with a child
-actual or simulation sexual activity or nudity
emotional abuse - ANSWER ~this is variously referred to as "mental injury" or
"psychological abuse" and encompasses verbal abuse
~requires a professional diagnosis to prove it
physical neglect - ANSWER ~an inability or unwillingness to provide for a child's basic
needs
EX. food, water, shelter, hygiene, medical care, safety/protection from others
supervision neglect - ANSWER ~sometimes simply called "general neglect"; difficult to
define
~includes both "lack of supervision" and "inadequate supervision"
**sometimes supervision counts as a basic need under physical neglect, but it's
significantly different construct so we will, where possible, separate physical and
supervision neglect**
~substance abuse is usually a factor
emotional neglect - ANSWER ~failure to attend to child's emotional needs; this would
generally refer to the absence of love, attention and stimulation
educational neglect - ANSWER a parent's failure to provide for a child's basic needs
with regards to school and education.
legal neglect - ANSWER ~child without a legally responsible caregiver
~would include abandonment, relinquishment, re-homing
international issues of maltreatment - ANSWER -other forms of child maltreatment that
aren't frequently encountered in the U.S., but are prevalent in other parts of the world
~child labor
~child soldiering
-engages children with violence at a very young age; not mentally/emotionally capable,
involuntary
, -child marriage
Key issues in defining maltreatment - ANSWER -requires a threshold
~why is this a problem? > lot of gray area, spectrum
~why do we need thresholds at all? > people disagree on where the line should be,
decides who gets services and who doesn't
-who decides?
~U.S. > federal government, states have ability to set laws
Medical-Psychological Approach - ANSWER ~key elements: create a profile for
perpetrators
~Goals: identify people before they perpetrate maltreatment
Sociological Perspectives - ANSWER ~labeling: can't separate the definition of
maltreatment from the culture in which it occurs, who is doing the labeling and why is an
important part in this process > constructed by people looking at a narrow set of
conditions, the label itself of being a perpetrator of maltreatment is stigmatized;
differential-response > two systems, child protective services & general protective
services (handles about 75% of cases, typically neglect); PA has some of the most strict
laws for expungement
~culture: cultural values determine roles that children and parents have, purpose for
having children > different parenting expectations
~situational: people behave based on the constraints of their environment
interactionist perspective - ANSWER ~everything matters!
-individual characteristics and the roles of institutions
Official rates in the United States of maltreatment - ANSWER -what is reported by the
government about prevalence
-2004 estimate: 702,000 children were determined to be victims of child maltreatment
-less than 1% of all children
~not all children are investigated
~most are victims of neglect
-annual not cumulative
~incidence rate not a prevalence rate > suggests that maltreatment is more rare than it
is
-medical neglect is counted separately
Assumptions of the official rates - ANSWER 1. All maltreatment that occurs is
discovered by someone or directly disclosed by the victim
~kids afraid of backlash from telling someone
~want to protect person > fear of what will happen if they bring info forward
~child might not know that it's wrong> might not bring it up
-good touch vs. bad touch
~kids don't think people will believe them; traumatic=blocked out and don't remember it
till later
