History of Chld Maltreatment

History of Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment has a vast historical background. What society today considers as child maltreatment is seen as being horrible. Before laws ruling against certain treatments towards children were established, the way children were treated was extremely terrible and would be unthinkable in society today.

Before the end of the 19th century, many areas of the Western world looked at infant and child mortality as a normal occurrence. As many as 15-20 per cent of children died within their first year of life. Much of this was attributed to the lack of education of parents. They did not know about proper nutritional requirements for infants. Healthcare was also not very advanced and as a result, many of the illnesses that infants are prone to today were not treated effectively in the 19th century. Parenting itself was not taken very seriously during that time period. The notion of giving infants attention and care was not popular, and it is a well-known fact that infants require a lot of care in order to develop properly and in some cases, survive. There were some parents who were not directly involved in caring for their children until after they were a year old.

Wealthy parents sent their children to wet nurses to be looked after. Wet nurses were women who provided breast-feeding services. They were often women who lived in poverty and made a living this way and were usually not paid very much. To compensate for their low wages they took in more babies than they could care for. This was detrimental for the infants because they were not able to provide them with the attention they required so they were neglected there as well. Many of the infants that went to wet nurses to be looked after were abandoned at local hospitals. These hospitals did not have the resources to look after the infants so they were sent to already busy wet nurses. The overcrowding at the homes of the wet nurses was not entirely their fault when this last point is taken into consideration.

Proper nutrition was not something new mothers were familiar with before the 20th century. Baby food did not have the proper nutrients like it does today. Mixtures of water, broth, tea, breadcrumbs, arrowroot, cornflower, rice, and tapioca were given to infants. This concoction was not satisfying and infants were often still hungry after being fed so they fussed and cried. Mothers did not know why their babies were constantly crying and to keep them quiet they gave them a drug called opium. The dangerous effects of this drug were not known at the time. All that was known about it was that it kept babies quiet so mothers could get on with daily tasks around the house without having to spend long periods of time comforting crying, hungry babies. Neglect was a major form of the maltreatment of children. Since infant mortality rates were so high, mothers found it very difficult to develop lasting bonds with their children. The mentality was that if the babies had a high chance of dying, there was no merit in showing affection or becoming attached to them since they might not be around for very long.

If children did survive infancy, their future was not much of an improvement. Before the later part of the 19th century children were seen as adults by the age of 7. They worked in factories alongside adults performing the same gruelling tasks. No consideration was given to them in terms of being vulnerable to harsh working conditions. Children were paid much less than adults performing the same tasks in these factories. They were also taken advantage of and bullied at work. For instance, if a child was caught speaking to another child while working, a fine was issued. Children worked long hours like adults and in terrible working conditions. Again, the idea that children needed to be in certain environments and be nurtured in order to grow and develop properly was unknown.

If one examines the dynamics of the family in the 19th century one might be able to see from where the types of maltreatment emerged. With the emergence of urbanization certain roles of family members became more defined. Fathers went to work and were solely responsible for the economic well being of the family. They were worked long hours to provide for their families. The father was also referred to as the patriarch of the family who ensures that the members of his family abide by the law. Social reformers favoured this idea because it was seen as a way of curbing family violence. Mothers were responsible fore the emotional needs of the family members as well as running the household. This type of a family structure was regarded as being beneficial for children because it demonstrated the clear roles for each family member. Affection was still a major issue in even in this sort of family structure. Parenting still lacked the necessary affection. Physical and emotional closeness was not a priority when children were infants and this carried on, as children got older. Severe physical punishments were also a common occurrence and this added to the various other forms of maltreatment children faced.

Children were treated like adults as well when they had committed a crime. The punishments they received were similar to the ones given to adult criminals. In 1894 however, the view that children should be treated differently under the law came into emergence. Several effects of this new ideal resulted. Trials for juveniles were held privately as opposed tot eh public ones of adults. Also, children were imprisoned in quarters that were separate from adults. Instead of being labelled as delinquents, juveniles were perceived as children who were misguided of misdirected and should be given help instead of being treated as criminals.

A way in which these misguided and misdirected children could be helped was through orphanages and training houses that emerged in the second part of the 19th century. These institutions were a way of taking children out of almshouses, poorhouses, and workhouses and putting them in a stimulating environment better suited to their needs. The motivation for creating these institutions came from the very realistic notion that society would become corrupt if children in facilities such as poorhouses were left without proper care, attention, and learning. Children not raised in an appropriate environment would wreak havoc when they grow up and move out of almshouses or poorhouses. The societal damage they could potentially cause would cost society much in terms of public welfare. Families were often blamed for the behaviour of these troubled children who were now seen as dependent, neglected, or delinquent.

In examining child maltreatment in the past 15 or 20 years, one can see clear distinctions as to what