Prevention of Child Physical Abuse

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Tangible actions can be taken by anyone to prevent child abuse and neglect. It's also important to help children who are abused to prevent them from becoming abusers themselves.

A number of prevention and intervention efforts have been designed to help decrease the scope and frequency of child physical abuse. Knowledge is the first step to prevention of child abuse.

Early detection of physical abuse starts with teachers, day care centers, hospitals, and other agencies that serve children and families. Professionals that work with children must be educated about identifying abuse. In all states, these professionals are considered mandatory reporters and are required by law to report abuse.

Beyond educating those who might detect abuse, prevention efforts have focused on both the population in general as well as specific groups that have been identified to have a higher risk of engaging in abusive behaviors. They include such indirect means as using media campaigns designed to spread information on child development or parenting skills. Other prevention efforts involve establishing peer helplines to provide support for parents experiencing crises that could increase their likelihood of abusing their children. Another approach is to develop ways to get parents who would otherwise be isolated from their

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child-rearing peers linked to social support networks.

An example of a more direct child abuse prevention program would be one that provides in-home family support for parents who are considered to be at risk: families with lower socioeconomic status, single parents, inexperienced or isolated parents, or those with alcohol abuse or drug abuse. Health services professionals often offer such preventative measures to parents at stressful transition points in their lives when the risk of physical abuse is judged to increase.

Because abuse is transferred from one generation to the next, it is important to understand that children who are abused are at higher risk for being abusers. It is understandable that children who have not received the needed nurturance and support from their parents may find it difficult to provide this for their children. Prevention efforts must acknowledge the intergenerational patterns of violence and work with children who are abused to prevent them from becoming abusers themselves.

next: Overview of Child Neglect

Sources:

• Administration for Children and Families
• National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information
• National Institutes of Health
• National Library of Medicine
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect