Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T23:52:35.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attitudes & Awareness to Child Abuse: of 40 Greek second year university students and their parents and 40 Greek early school leavers and their parents in Melbourne

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2024

Dorothy A.F. Shamley ,
Susan Andrios  and
Vicki Arthanasiou
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The phenomenon of child abuse was unexplored in Greece until the late 1970’s when the legal, social and medical professions became aware of the growing problem which resulted in the passing of a new law. Studies on child abuse are almost non-existent at present. Maroulis claimed that corporal punishment in the Greek culture can be perceived as an acceptable way of shaping a child’s behaviour. As yet there is very little, if any, research undertaken in Australia on Greek people and their awareness to child abuse. Masselos’s 1981 account of the Greek Community in Brisbane cites only three cases of child abuse as having occurred. This account cannot be viewed as indicating a low prevalence. Education is regarded as one of the essential factors in making people aware of the problem of child abuse and teaching them what the needs and the requirements of children are. Two of the three authors of the present study are from the Greek community, and were most concerned to ascertain the sensitivity to child abuse in the largest ethnic community in Melbourne. This study was undertaken in the year of the campaign “When Love is Not Enough” was launched, 1982. In this study 240 subjects, 40 Greek second year university students and their parents and 40 Greek early school leavers and their parents were given a questionnaire to fill out. The questionnaire contained questions of awareness, attitudes and opinions to child abuse. The aim was to see whether these selected samples of Greek people in Victoria were aware of the problem of child abuse.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , Winter 1984 , pp. 16 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Tsiandis, J., Kokkevi, A. and Agathanos-Maroulis, E. Parents of Abused Children in Greece: Psychiatric and Psychological Characteristics. Child Abuse and Neglect, 1981, 5. 281 – 285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Maroulis, H. Child Abuse: The Greek Scene, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1979, 3, 185 – 190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Munir, N. Ethnic Communities and Child Abuse: A Perspective. In Conference Proceedings, Second Australian Conference on Child Abuse, Mt. Gravatt, C.A.E. September 21 – 25, 1981.Google Scholar
4. Masselos, P. Does Child Abuse Exist in the Greek Community? In Conference Proceedings, Second Australian Conference on Child Abuse. Mt. Gravatt, C.A.E. September 21 – 25, 1981.Google Scholar
5. Gil, D.G. Violence Against Children, U.S.A.: Harvard University Press, 1970.Google Scholar
Gil, D.G. Violence Against Children, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1971, 33, 637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Franklin, A.W. The Challenge of Child Abuse, U.S. Royal Society of Medical Press, U.S.A., 1978.Google Scholar
7. Martin, H.P. The Abused Child: A Multidisciplinary Apprach to Developmental Issues and Treatment, Cambridge, Hallinger.Google Scholar
8. Schwartz, D.A. A Reappraisal of the New York Child Abuse Laws — How Far Have We Come? Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 1977, 13, 91 – 136.Google Scholar
9. Woolley, P.V. and Evans, W.A., Significance of Skeltal Lesions in Infants Resembling Those of Traumatic Origin, Journal of the American Medical Association, 1955, 158, 538 – 543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Altman, D.H. and Smith, R.L., Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 1960, 42, 407 – 412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Gwinn, J.L., Lewin, K.W. and Peterson, H.G., Children in Jeopardy, Journal of American Medical Association, 1961, 176, 926 – 929.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Antler, S., Child Abuse: An Emerging Social Priority. Social Work, 1978, January.Google Scholar
13. Heifer, R. and Kempe, C.H., The Battered Child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (second edition), 1974.Google Scholar
14. kempe, R.S. and Kempe, C.H., Child Abuse. Open Books Publishing Ltd: London, 1978.Google ScholarPubMed
15. Solomon, T., History and Demography of Child Abuse, Pediatrics, 1973, 51 (4), 733 – 776.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16. Schwartz, D.A. A Reappraisal of the New York Child Abuse Laws — How Far Have We Come? Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 1977, 13, 91 – 136.Google Scholar
17. Eisenberg, L. The Human Nature of Human Nature, Science, 1972, 176, 123 – 128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, L. Cross Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1981, 5, 299 – 308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Gil, D.G. Violence Against Children, U.S.A.; Harvard University Press, 1970.Google Scholar
19. Korbin, J. Anthorpological Contributions to the Study of Child Abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 1976 1 (1) 7 – 24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korbin, J. A Cross-Cultural Perspective on the Role of the Community in Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1979, 3 (1), 9 – 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Light, R.J. Abused and Neglected Children in America: A Study of Alternative Policies. Harvard Educational Review, 1973, 43, 556 – 598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21. Martin, H.P. The Abused Child: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Developmental Issues and Treatment, Cambridge, Ballinger, 1976.Google Scholar
22. Mintum, L. and Lambert, W. Mothers of Six Cultures: Antecedents of Child Rearing, John Wiley and Sons, N.Y.; 1964.Google Scholar
23. Bell, G., Parents who Abuse Their Children, Canadian Journal of Psychology, 1973, 18, 223 – 228.Google ScholarPubMed
24. Helfer, R. and Pollock, G. The Battered Child Syndrome, Advances in Pediatrics, 1968, 13, 10 – 29.Google Scholar
25. Hanson, R. and Smith, S.m. Interpersonal Relationships and Child Rearing Practices in 214 Parents of Battered Children, British Journal of Psychiatry, 1976, 127, 513 – 525.Google Scholar
26. Melnick, S. and Hurley, T. Distinctive Personality Attributes of Child Abusing Mothers, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1969, 33, 746 – 749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27. Neufeld, K. Child Rearing, Religion and Abusive Parents. Religious Education, 1979, 74, 234 – 244.Google Scholar
28. Pollock, C. and Steele, B. A Psychiatric Study of Parents who Abuse Infants and Small Children. In The Battered Child, eds., Heifer, R. and Kempe, C.H., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.Google Scholar
29. Neufeld, K., ibid.Google Scholar
30. Young, L. Wednesday’s Children: A Study of Child Neglect and Abuse. N.Y.: Mc-Graw Hill, 1964.Google Scholar
31. Young, L., ibid.Google Scholar
32. Gil, D.G. Violence Against Children, U.S.A.; Harvard University Press, 1970.Google Scholar
33. Gil, D.G., ibid.Google Scholar
34. Gil, D.G., ibid.Google Scholar
35. Korbin, J. A Cross-Cultural Perspective on the role of the Community in Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1979, 3 (1),9 – 18.Google Scholar
36. Eisenberg, L., Cross Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1981, 5, 299 – 308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37. Tsiandis, J., Kokkevi, A. and Agathanos-Maroulis, E. Parents of Abused Children in Greece: Psychiatric and Psychological Characteristics. Child Abuse and Neglect, 1981, 5, 281 – 285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38. Maroulis, H. Child Abuse: The Greek Scene, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1979, 3, 185 – 190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
39. Potamianov, A. and Safilios-Rothschild, C. Trends of Discipline in the Greek Family, Human Relations, 1971, 24 (5), 387 – 395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
40. Safilios-Rothschild, C. and Georgopoulos, J. A Comparative Study of Parental and Filial Role Definition. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1970, 32, 61 – 75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41. Potamianov, A. and Safilios-Rothschild, C. Trends of Discipline in the Greek Family, Human Relations, 1971, 24 (5), 387 – 395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42. Loizos, P. Violence and the Family: Some Meditaranian Examples, in Martin, J.P. (ed.), Violence and the Family, Wiley and Son Ltd., N.Y.: 1978.Google Scholar
43. Gil, D.G. Violence Against Children, U.S.A.; Harvard University Press, 1970.Google Scholar
44. Martin, H.P. The Abused Child; A Multi-disciplinary Approach to Developmental Issues and Treatment. Cambridge, Ballinger, 1978.Google Scholar
45. Franklin, A.W. The Challenge of Child Abuse, U.S. Royal Society of Medical Press, U.S.A., 1978.Google Scholar
46. Matthews, R.N. Report of the Child Maltreatment Workshop, Australian Child and Family Welfare, 1977, 2 (2), 1 – 11.Google Scholar
47. Giovannini, J. Defining Child Abuse, McMillan Ltd., U.S.A., 1979.Google Scholar
48. Tsiandis, J., Kokkevi, A. and Agathanos-Maroulis, E. Parents of Abused Children in Greece: Psychiatric and Psychological Characteristics, Child Abuse and Neglect, 1981, 5, 281 – 285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49. Lewis, P. Child Abuse: A Reader and Source Book, Open University Press, N.Y.: 1981.Google Scholar
50. Giovannini, J. Defining Child Abuse, McMillan Ltd., U.S.A., 1979.Google Scholar