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The Definitions Are Legion: Academic Views and Practice Perspectives on Violence Against Children
Andreas Jud, Peter Voll ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This book chapter looks at how violence against children is defined in research and in child protection practice. It notes that many different terms are used, such as child maltreatment, child abuse and neglect, and children at risk. These differences affect where and when professionals decide to intervene. The chapter draws on studies of the Swiss child protection system, including a national multi-sector survey of agency responses to child maltreatment. It argues for a consensus-based, interdisciplinary process to develop shared definitions.
Key points
- Research and child protection practice still lack uniform definitions of violence against children.
- Different disciplines in national child protection systems use separate discourses and terms.
- Definitions are sometimes general or implicit, and operationalizations of key elements are rare.
- Definitional differences are also differences in the scope and thresholds of intervention.
- Studies in Switzerland show that having multiple definitional concepts has consequences for documenting reported cases.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so the specific findings, methods and numbers from the Swiss studies cannot be assessed. The focus is on Switzerland, so the findings may not apply directly to other countries.
Abstract
Abstract Both research and child protection practice are still far away from having uniform definitions of violence against children. The different disciplines involved in the sectors of national child protection systems rely on separate discourses and terms; definitions are sometimes rather general or implicit, and operationalizations of important elements are rare. The various terms in use – child maltreatment, child abuse and neglect, child endangerment, children at risk, children in need, etc. – speak of the variety, not only of concepts, but also of practices. With respect to the latter, definitional issues are also issues of the scope and thresholds of intervention. This chapter provides an overview of major terms and definitional approaches to violence against children and identifies eminent differences between them. Findings from several studies on the Swiss child protection system, including the first multi-sectorial national survey on agency responses to child maltreatment, illustrate how professionals use definitions and the consequences of having multiple definitional concepts for documenting reported cases. We conclude by advocating for a consensus-based interdisciplinary process of developing shared definitions of violence against children.