Child Maltreatment Forms and Consequences

Types of Child Maltreatment

• Physical abuse: any physical injury to a child that is not accidental, including excessive discipline, severe beatings, punching, slapping, shaking, burning, biting, throwing, kicking, cutting, suffocation, drowning, strangulation, or poisoning.
• Sexual abuse: using power to involve a child in sexual activity, including physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, sexual touching, penetration, sexual suggestion, sexual exposure, or exhibitionism, and child prostitution.
• Emotional abuse: denying a child a supportive environment to develop mentally and/or emotionally, including constant criticism, restriction of movement, belittling, denigrating, scape-goating, threatening, scaring, discriminating, exposure to domestic violence, ridiculing, or other non-physical forms of hostile or rejecting treatment.
• Neglect: depriving a child of basic needs, including food, clothing, warmth, shelter, emotional and physical security, medical and dental care, cleanliness, education, and supervision.

Reporting Child Maltreatment

• Be aware of child-centred bias: consider family and caregiver factors when reporting.
• Non-child-centred factors are more important predictors of substantiation than child risk factors.
• Consider objectivity: be aware of potential biases related to age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, cultural/community child rearing practices, or socio-economic status.
• Credibility: ensure reports are impartial, factual, and free of interpretation or judgement of an individual's values, morals, or religious or cultural beliefs.

Supporting the Child and Family

• Reporting role: educators are vital in reporting child maltreatment and may be the child's only advocate.
• Report effectively: consider all risk factors, seek supervision/assistance/guidance, and use decision trees.
• Be as objective as possible in appraisals.
• Intervention role: teachers and carers are vital role models and can provide care and understanding to support the child's well-being.
• Support the family: avoid blame, provide resources, support, and encouragement to parent more effectively, and consider financial aid, referral to services, and community involvement.
• Keep the child engaged in regular activities and consider their social networks to prevent isolation.
• Follow the research: use evidence to guide best practice for preventing or intervening with child maltreatment, including how to help children with a maltreatment history.