ABSTRACT
The purpose of this textbook is to provide you with an overview of child maltreatment. This umbrella term includes both the abuse and the neglect of children. Child abuse is the term used for acts of commission-things a parent or caretaker does to a child that are inappropriate. Child abuse can include such diverse acts as beating, sexually assaulting, or verbally abusing a child. In each case, the adult is doing something to the child that is defined as maltreatment. Conversely, child neglect is the term used for acts of omission-things a parent or caretaker fails to do for a child when appropriate care would require that such things be done. Child neglect can include failure to provide for a child’s physical, emotional, medical, or educational needs. In cases of child neglect, the parent fails to provide for the child even the minimum necessary for adequate care. Together, child abuse and child neglect make up child maltreatment. While most researchers in the field would agree to this terminology, it is important for readers of this literature to note that child abuse is also sometimes used synonymously with child maltreatment. In other words, when some authors write of child abuse, they often mean both abuse and neglect. I will also follow this usage largely because abuse is often a less awkward term than maltreatment. On the other hand, child neglect is not used to include child abuse; so when you see that term, you can be fairly certain that the focus is on acts of omission.The problem of confusing terminology is something we will need to keep in mind as we explore the literature on child maltreatment. This particular field is plagued with definitional issues. For example, what one author means by “sexual abuse” may be quite different from what another means by the same term. To be as clear as possible, I will begin each chapter that focuses on a type of maltreatment by establishing a working definition for that form of maltreatment. When you read other authors’ chapters, you must be attentive to the definitions they are working with.
