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Chapter 18 - Child Abuse and Neglect

from Part II - Problems Related to Crime and Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2018

By
Mark A. Winton
Edited by
A. Javier Treviño
A. Javier Treviño
Affiliation:
Wheaton College, Massachusetts
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Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a review of several of the major findings and debates in the child abuse and neglect (CAN) field while framing CAN as a major social problem. The chapter begins with a brief historical review, and then moves to a discussion surrounding the definitions, recent epidemiological findings, and risk factors. Technology and sexual exploitation are examined and several sociological perspectives are compared and contrasted. A brief discussion of genocide and CAN is presented. Finally, the current status and debates surrounding interventions, prevention, and practices are explored along with a discussion of the risks of the criminalization and medicalization of CAN.

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Chapter
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The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems , pp. 309 - 326
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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