Search

Children require special legal protection, including criminal law protection, in all countries since they are one of the most vulnerable categories of population. Crimes against children inflict harm not only to victims but also affect further development of society as a whole. The US experience in the field of criminal law protection of children has significant specifics and is of scientific interest. The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe characteristic features of American criminal law in this area and its applicability in Russia. To reach the goal formal-legal, comparative-legal and other methods are used. American laws create legal duty to report acts that constitute child abuse. Failure to report constitutes crime. Statutes of several US states contain special chapters devoted to crimes against children. Parents or other caregivers may not inflict harm the child directly but also, by inaction, allow third party to do so. Such inaction is deemed a crime. Using reasonable force to discipline children is legal in the USA if the punishment does not inflict harm greater than transient pain and other legal requirements are met. Parents or other caregivers must control children and never leave them unattended at home if they are younger than state`s law or recommendations of state`s authorities prescribe. «Hot car» laws prohibit to leave children unattended in a vehicle if they have not reached the age prescribed by law. Violation of such duties is a crime in some cases. The applicability of such experience in Russia is analyzed for each criminal law prohibition. It is concluded that many rules of the US criminal law are redundant. The features that are of certain interest for our country have been identified and studied.

This paper grants some considerations on a critical phenomenon for child health: child neglect. It is an omission-type form of childhood maltreatment, which is widespread but very hard to intercept. For the assessment of child neglect, the Italian Society of Pediatric Psychology (S.I.P.Ped.) has developed and validated a specific assessment technique (the C.N.A. technique). It is supposed to be for parents of children between 3 and 9 years old. It is based on a paradigm that identifies the dysregulation of parental competence as the cause of neglect. It can occur in hypo- or hyperactivation of three fundamental factors (recognition, stimulation, and care). The child neglect assessment technique (C.N.A.) differs from the retrospective tools available in the literature since it allows for interception of the “signs” of possible child neglect when negligence occurs.

Aim: Child abuse and neglect (CAN) may be defined as physical, sexual and/or psychological maltreatment of the child. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of dentists about CAN, to give basic information on the topic and to take feedback. Methods: It was an observational study that the questionnaire that consisted 26 questions in four parts was sent by e-mail with an electronic link via Turkish Dental Association to Turkish dentists. At the end of the questionnaire, a short education by power-point presentation was given to volunteered participants and self-competence feedbacks were taken. Results: A total of 326 dentists (113 males and 213 females) aged 23-70 years, answered the questionnaire. Only 16.2% of dentists reported that they know their legal rights and information on reporting CAN. 79.5% of dentists noted that they did not receive education on CAN during their undergraduate years. 95.6% of the participants volunteered to attend the education provided. Feedbacks showed that information obtained by the education had a beneficial impact on dentists’ awareness and knowledge. Conclusions: Turkish dentists’ knowledge and awareness of CAN were inadequate. Educational efforts may enable them to recognize cultural misperceptions, take necessary precautions, to be confident in reporting child abuse and neglect without hesitation and fulfill their legal obligations.

This paper aims to address father absence as a key contributory factor to child neglect and abuse and a cause of disrupted and unstable families by means of an explorative literature review. The study follows a biblical and multidisciplinary approach and collaboration between scholars from the fields of social work and theology in an effort to transform broken families. The Children’s Act, 38 of 2005, stipulates that children in need of care and protection refer to children who face social issues such as abuse, absent parents, and children who abuse alcohol and drugs, among other things. These children require adequate care, love, and security. A stable family or home environment can provide stability, security, and a caring environment where children can develop to become emotionally healthy and pro-social. God can transform families, especially the families of children who receive the ministry of his Word. The Scripture in Jeremiah 31 verse 29 proclaims: “The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children’s teeth are set on edge”. This quote refers to the involvement of the father as the primary leading figure in the family. It illustrates that proper fathering has a much broader significance than just the biological production of children. South Africa has experienced rapid changes, including shifts in family composition. There are many broken relationships, and father absence is a salient issue. Countless numbers of children in the South African landscape are being raised without their biological fathers. Many experiences no fatherly presence at all as they lack an alternative figure. Children are often humiliated for being fatherless and many families are challenged by father absence, and this creates in children a sense of loss and confusion. Hence, the aim of this article to reciprocate to father absence as social ill from a biblical point of view and to suggest a transformative ecclesial praxis.

Rates of child maltreatment in the U.S. have been relatively stagnant since the 1990s. This lack of progress suggests that prevention efforts, which have primarily focused on individual behaviors, have been unsuccessful. Building on existing research, this conceptual paper identifies the need to refocus prevention efforts on changeable and causal risk factors. The Modifiable Maltreatment Factors (MMF), a new framework to classify risk factors for maltreatment, is introduced. Use of the MMF in social work education and child protective services work could increase the understanding of macro factors in child maltreatment and the possibilities of policy change and community organizing in maltreatment prevention.