A5

THE HISTORY AND RECOGNITION OF CHILD ABUSE IN THE WESTERN WORLD

Presenters: Jean Labbé

Abstract Category: Medical

Instruction Level: Advanced

Presentation: Click Here

Description:      

This workshop will first describe the various forms of maltreatment of children in the past and then focus on the ensuing recognition of child abuse as a serious public health problem.

Abstract: 

Child maltreatment is now recognized as a major health problem in our society.  Unfortunately, it took far too long for the legal and health care professions as well as society in general to realize that children were victims of maltreatment by their own parents and by other adults caring for them.  The first part of this workshop will be devoted to the description of various forms of maltreatment inflicted upon children in past centuries in the Western world:  infanticide, abandonment, harmful childcare practices, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, institutional abuse and child labour.

The second part will present some of the key figures who, over time, participated in the fight for the protection of children.  Events and factors that contributed to Western Society’s increased awareness of child abuse and neglect in the 19th century will be reviewed.  The contribution of members of the medical profession to the recognition of the magnitude of this problem in the mid-20th century will also be acknowledged.