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Neglect: Should There Be Mandatory Reporting?

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Mandatory Reporting Laws and the Identification of Severe Child Abuse and Neglect

Part of the book series: Child Maltreatment ((MALT,volume 4))

Abstract

There has been discussion as to whether there should be mandatory reporting for child abuse and neglect and most specifically whether there should be reporting of neglect. This chapter accepts that there are a number of failures in current child protection efforts, but these are failures not because the concept is flawed. It is rather that the flaws and failures reside in the system designed to respond to the reports. The examples offered by the critics of mandatory reporting, of inadequate resources and services, are well taken. However, this is a very different issue from doing away with mandated reporting. This chapter explores whether a concept should be discarded because of inadequate resources and operationalization. It accepts that there may need to be changes in how the response, treatment, and monitoring of neglect are organized. The question then becomes: what do we do after we evaluate and diagnose neglect?

Appreciation is extended to Howard Dubowitz MD and Donald Boss JD, PhD, for their contributions to the writing of this chapter.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Emotional abuse includes the failure to provide a developmentally appropriate, supportive environment, including the availability of a primary attachment figure, so that the child can develop a stable and full range of emotional and social competencies commensurate with her or his personal potentials and in the context of the society in which the child dwells. There may also be acts toward the child that cause or have a high probability of causing harm to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. These acts must be reasonably within the control of the parent or person in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Acts include restriction of movement, patterns of belittling, denigrating, scapegoating, threatening, scaring, discriminating, ridiculing or other nonphysical forms of hostile or rejecting treatment (Garbarino et al. 1986; Garbarino and Gilliam 1980).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, 13213E 16th Ave, Aurora, CO, USA

    Edward Goldson M.D.

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  1. Edward Goldson M.D.
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Correspondence to Edward Goldson M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Ben Mathews

  2. Program in Pediatric Law, Policy and Ethics, Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Donald C. Bross

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Goldson, E. (2015). Neglect: Should There Be Mandatory Reporting?. In: Mathews, B., Bross, D. (eds) Mandatory Reporting Laws and the Identification of Severe Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Maltreatment, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9685-9_11

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