Martins, mjd. 2019 child maltreatment

Child Maltreatment – conceptions
and the role of school to prevent it
ERASMUS Lecture, Bari, March 2019
Maria José D. Martins
Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, Portugal
mariajmartins@ipportalegre.pt

What is child maltreatment?
«Child maltreatment includes all forms of
physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual
abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, or labor,
commercial or other exploitation, resulting in
actual or potential harm to the child’s health,
survival, development or dignity in the context of
a relationship of responsibility, trust or power».
Recently exposure to deviant behaviour, for
exemple conjugal violence is also considered a
type of maltreatment even if it is indirect. (WHO,
2006, p.7).

Main types of child maltreatment
The world report on violence and health
and the 1999 WHO Consultation on Child
Abuse Prevention distinguish four main
types of child maltreatment:
• Physical abuse;
• Sexual abuse;
• Emotional and psychological abuse;
• Neglect.
(WHO,2006, p.8).

The perpetrators of child maltreatment may be:
• Parents and other family members;
• Caregivers;
• Friends;
• Acquaintances;
• Strangers;
• Others in authority – such as teachers,
soldiers, police officers and clergy;
• Health care workers;
• Other children (generally older than the
child).
(WHO,2006, p.8).

Definitions of different types of child maltreatment
«Physical abuse of a child is defined as
the intentional use of physical force against
a child that results in – or has a high
likelihood of resulting in – harm for the
child’s health, survival, development or
dignity.
This includes hitting, beating, kicking,
shaking, biting, strangling, scalding,
burning, poisoning and suffocating. Much
physical violence against children in the
home is inflicted with the aim of punishing»
(WHO, 2006, p.10).

«Sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of a
child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully
comprehend, is unable to give informed consent
to, or for which the child is not developmentally
prepared, or else that violates the laws or social
taboos of society. Children can be sexually abused
by both adults and other children who are, by
virtue of their age or stage of development, in a
position of responsibility, trust or power over the
victim» (WHO, 2006, p.10).
Includes exposition of the child to pornography;
using the naked child’ image in social media;
and/or oral, anal and coital penetration by an adult
or other child.

«Emotional and psychological abuse involves
both isolated incidents, as well as a pattern of
failure over time on the part of a parent or
caregiver to provide a developmentally appropriate
and supportive environment. Acts in this category
may have a high probability of damaging the
child’s physical, psychologically or mental health,
or its physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social
development.
Abuse of this type includes: the restriction of
movement; patterns of belittling, blaming,
threatening, frightening, discriminating against or
ridiculing; and other non-physical forms of
rejection or hostile treatment» (WHO, 2006, p.10).

Neglect – Can be passive or active and includes
«both isolated incidents, as well as a pattern of
failure over time on the part of a parent or other
family member to provide for the development and
well-being of the child, where the parent is in a
position to do so, in one or more of the following
areas:
• Health;
• Education;
• Parental supervision and emotional development;
• Nutrition;
• Shelter and safe living conditions»(WHO, 2006, p.10).

What characterizes child maltreatment?
• It’s an active action, no accidentally occurred, perpetrated by
some one in charge, or not, of the children. There is an
exception for passive neglect (a result of the incompetence of
parents due to their mental illness, drug abuse, or cognitive
deficit).
• It’s transversal to all social classes and economic families in-
comes (although extreme poverty constitute a risk factor).
• The younger children (toddlers and pre-scholars) have a
higher risk of fatal maltreatment in result of their vulnerability
and social invisibility.
• Infanticide are just a small part of maltreatment, a estimative
of WHO (2006) suggest that almost a quarter of all children
report severe physical abuse and 20% of women and around
10% of men reported sexual abuse in infancy.
• It has severe consequences for the child global development.

Consequences of abuse on children:
• Emotional problems (passivity, depression, anxiety,
somatization) result from neglect, emotional and sexual
abuse.
• Disorder of posttraumatic stress arises in the wake of
physical maltreatment and sexual abuse.
• Antisocial behaviour, aggression and delinquency are
associated with physical maltreatment and exposure to
deviant models. So iincreased likelihood of cross-
generational transmission of violence.
• Consumption and dependence of psychoactive
substances and various mental health problems (suicidal
ideation).
• Learning difficulties (temporally or permanent).
Canha (2003); Magalhães (2004)

Risk factors in families
• Be raised only by one of the parents or by very young parents
or other care givers without the support of the extended family.
• Large families living in squalid spaces and lack the economic
resources to meet basic needs, despite the fact that
maltreatment is a problem across all social strata.
• The presence of other forms of interpersonal violence in the
home (eg, conjugal violence).
• Mental health problems (eg., depression, psychosis) of parents
and / or psychoactive substance addiction.
• Personality disorders, namely antisocial behavior or sexual
conduct, psychopathy.
• Impulsive temperament, beliefs in the power of physical
punishment as a form of discipline or, on the contrary, difficulty
in saying no to all children's demands and to impose limits,
being permissive with all the children demands.
(Magalhães, 2004)

Protective factors that enhance resilience
• To have access to available adults as identification models in
the extended family (grandparents, cousins, uncles) or not
(educators, teachers, godmother / godfather with whom the
child can establish warm relationships and secure
attachment).(Canha,2003).
• Commitment with themselves to do not repeat the bad
treatment with others (namely with their own children),
considering that what happened should not have happened,
that is, do not trivialize violence and not normalize it.
• To find and establishes a relation with an intimate partner
who repudiates abuse and aggression but who supports and
accepts the person concerned.
• To find and work in a profession that is rewarding and
fulfilling.
• To pursue a psychotherapy to deal with those bad
experiences in infancy.

The role of school and teachers in face of
children at risk or/and in danger
Detection and signalling of maltreatment can and should be
done by all people but is generally more visible in the context
of health or educational systems:
- Educators and teachers can be excellent observers of the
risk or danger situations in which children are involved and
make the detection and signalling.
- The school can promote bullying prevention programs and
promote responsible citizenship that facilitate warm
learning environments and thus introduce protective factors
into the lives of children of vulnerable families.
- The school can trigger forms of support for families and / or
children to compensate for less structured and stress-
inducing family environments.

The Portuguese system of children protection
Comissão Nacional de Promoção dos Direitos e Proteção Crianças e Jovens
( CNPDPCJ https://www.cnpdpcj.gov.pt)
Court
CPCJ
Local comission to
protect children
Child general institutions
(art.º7º LPCJ)
(Family, School, Leisure services, Social
Security)
CNPDPCJ
Public Prosecutions
Family
Lei n.º147/99, de 1 de setembro com as alterações da Lei n.º 142/2015 de 8 de
setembro e de Lei n.º23/2017 de 23 de maio).

The Portuguese protection system can occur through
a formal or informal network and involves:
• Suspicion or detection;
• Signalling (reporting of a situation or suspicion of
maltreatment to entities with competence in matters
relating to children and youth, commissions for the
protection of children and young people in danger, courts
or police);
• Evaluation and research aims to:
- Clarify the facts that gave rise to the suspicion of abuse;
- Assess the suspicion and the degree of danger in which
the child is involved and identify the sources of danger;
- Make an initial diagnosis to determine the degree and type
of danger;
- Intervene immediately when justified - supporting the family
or accusing it in court.

Possible measures to intervene
Lei n.º147/99, de 1 de setembro com as alterações da Lei n.º
142/2015 de 8 de setembro e de Lei n.º23/2017 de 23 de maio).
• Supporting families (CPCJ decision )
• Involving other members of large family in
parental responsibilities
• Foster Care (court decision)
• Residential Care (court decision)
• Adoption (court decision)
• To responsible some other adult of parental
responsibilities (court decision)
• Supporting autonomy of young ones

The role of school and residential care in the
protection of children at risk or danger
• To provide a safe environment for the child and give the
possibility of establishes warm and healthy relationships
with his / her colleagues and adults (teachers, educators
or caregivers).
• In the context of disciplinary acts (where these are
necessary because of insolence or disruptive behaviour of
the child) never invoke the child's family as a way of
justifying or reprimanding their behaviour, regardless of
how the biological family treats, family is always
responsible for life and an insult to the family is always an
insult to the self.
• Be alert to the possibility of re-victimization or poly-
victimization in different contexts (ex: neglected and
abused children in the family have more likelihood of
becoming victims, perpetrators or bullying victims of
school bullying).

The role of school in the protection of children
at risk or danger
• Differentiate primary prevention, that should be addressed to
the whole school, the class groups, and the surrounding
community (awareness raising and promotion of desirable
behaviours and prevention of those that should not occur),
from tertiary prevention (eg intervention on occurrence of
bullying at school or on signalling of a suspected family
abuse).
• Peer conflict mediation programs can be useful strategies for
preventing and managing peer conflicts. However, they are
inadequate to deal with situations of family maltreatment or
bullying among peers, as they constitute situations of abuse
of power in which one of the parties is in a helpless position.
In the event of a specific occurrence, the conversations with
victims, offenders and witnesses should be separated to
clarify the occurrence and the intervention should be done
separately and appropriately for each case depending on the
role played in the bullying or other type of occurrence.

Abuse is different of conflict
Abuse
Forms of
maltreatments
that are
associated to a
lack in balance of
power between
children and
adults or children
and their peers,
like in bullying
situations. Abuse
should be
eradicated.
Conflict
It is a situation in which people or
groups seek to achieve different
goals or have different strategies
to achieve the same goal; they
affirm antagonistic values or have
divergent interests. Jares (2003).
Conflicts can be an opportunity for
development, innovation and
creativity if they are viewed in a
constructive way, that is, as a
problem that requires a solution.
Conflicts can hardly be eliminated,
conflicts must be solved, so that
the relationship between the
parties persists in time.
Myers & Myers (1990)

The role of teachers in the protection of
children at risk or danger
Teachers can promote co-operative work
methodologies and / or peer mentoring in
order to create learning environments of
respect and cordiality among all, and thus
facilitate the creation of new friendships
among all children, helping the most
vulnerable to overcome difficulties with the
help of peers.

The role of school principals
• School principals, teachers and staff should be
attentive and listen to what children and
adolescents have to say about occurrences in
the school and / or family context.
• The promotion of a school culture that spells
out positive norms of interpersonal relationship,
and which is not an accomplice of what some
authors term by conspiracy of silence, can help
to prevent bullying and intervene promptly as
soon as it emerges, beyond to facilitate the
signalling of situations of family abuse as soon
as they are detected.

The intervention should
reconcile an ethics of justice
(complying with laws,
assuming responsibilities) with
an ethics of care (establishing
empathy to meet the needs of
the other), and giving priority
to the second when it
concerns the best interest of
the child.
Thanks for your attention

- Canha, J. (2003). Criança maltratada. Coimbra: Quarteto
- Carvalho, M. J. L. (2013). Sistema nacional de acolhimento de crianças e jovens. Lisboa: F.C.
Gulbenkian
- Catela, J., & Martins, M. J. D. (2018, no prelo). A escola vista pelas crianças e jovens em
acolhimento institucional/residencial. In V Seminário I & D do C3i - Coordenação para a
investigação e inovação do Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre. Portalegre.
https://www.ipportalegre.pt/
- Magalhães, T. (2004). Maus tratos em crianças e jovens. Coimbra: Quarteto.
- Comissão Nacional de Crianças e Jovens em Risco (CNCJR) (s/ data). Promoção e proteção
dos direitos das crianças. Guia de orientações para profissionais de ação social na abordagem
de situações de maus tratos ou outras situações de perigo.On-line: https://www.cnpdpcj.gov.pt
- Martins, M. J. D. (2013). Problemas relacionais na escola: explicações e sentimentos dos
adolescentes. In M. Serpa, S. Caldeira, & C. Gomes (Orgs.). Resolução de problemas em contexto
escolar (pp. 85-106). Lisboa: Colibri ISBN: 978-989-689-376-7.
- Martins, M. J. D. (2011). Prevenção da indisciplina, da violência e do bullying nas escolas.
Proforma, 3, 1-6.l on-line:http://www.cefopna.edu.pt/revista/revista_03/pdf_03/es_01a_03.pdf
- Martins, M. J. D. (2009). Maus tratos entre pares na escola. Novembro: Penafiel
- Martins, M. J. D. & Figueira, A. C. (2015). Crianças em situação de risco social - A perceção dos
docentes. In L. Mata et al. (Eds). Diversidade e Educação: Perspetivas Atuais. E book (pp. 38-
53). ISBN 978-989-8384-33-1 on-line:
http://eventos.ispa.pt/xiiicoloquiopsicologiaeeducacao/files/2016/01/eBook_XIII_Coloquio_Inter
nacional_Psicologia_e_Educacao_Junho2015.pdf
- World Heath Organization. (2002). World report on violence and health. Summary. Geneva. (On–
line). On-line : http://www.who.int/publications/en/
- World Heath Organization (2006). Preventing child maltreatment. On–line;:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2006/9241594365_eng.pdf
Referências Bibliográficas

mariajmartins@ipportalegre.pt
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