米国の児童虐待:医療化以前の虐待認識と社会

In this paper, described in a historical perspective about the medicalization and criminalization of public awareness of child abuse before medicalization in the U.S. In the early 1960s, pediatrician named H. Kenpe discovered " child abuse " and defined "disease". Then, Child Abuse is increasing concern as a social problem, and it legislation to prevent child abuse proceeds rapidly, the enacted of the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in 1974. However, before medicalization for the American society, child abuse had been identified as delinquent behavior, were subject to corrected.It is usually considered that the child is a menace of a community, and recognized that a community - juvenile justice system or court of law - has the children’s rights in this area. The reason in which Mary Ellen's rescue operation succeeded is not that the public system of right protection of a child was ready. It comes out that this incident attracts attention in the meaning that it was the transition stage of child protective when private rescue attempt was performed. This paper describes the historical outline about puritanical United States society (including parents and community) of those days having recognized how about the right of a child and the child itself from ancient times to the 19th century and clarifies the violence problem involving the people and the family who were concerned with protection of a child from the historical background. A view to the child of those days becomes clear in particular from consideration of the Mary Ann Cruise’s Judgment and PARENS PATRIAE. This historical analysis is aimed at clarifying the foundation for the newest methodology coping with a social problem by clarifying the measure and background of the child protection in the 19th century America which had big influence on child protection activities towards discovery and prevention of child abuse in the United States of America