Psychological Abuse of Children: The State of Public and Professional Concern

Since 1962 when the Kempe article emerged on the "Battered Child Syndrome, " there has been concentrated effort to combat physical and sexual abuse of children and youth. While most states included sections in their laws on "psychological abuse, " little effort in research, litigation or treatment has been exerted to identify cases or inform the public as to its deleterious effects on children. One stumbling block in this effort has been the conviction that there was little public sanction to examine or prosecute these forms of abuse. This research project aimed at identifying potential areas to be defined as abuse, and to submit to a sample of citizens questionnaires on child psychological abuse, and compare the results with a professional social work cohort. A questionnaire containing 20 vignettes repn,:,enting ten types of psychologically abusive behavior was administered to a group of 843 responaents, both professional social workers and a random sample of citizens to further define the phenomenon of psychological abuse. Ratings determined whether an event was abuse; its seriousness (0-5 scale) ; and whether intervention was recommended (0-3 scale). Demographic data about respondent's age, gender, parenthoo