PSY 380 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Stepfamily, Child Prostitution, Misdemeanor

• School: University of Arizona
• Department: Psychology Main
• Course: PSY 380
• Professor: Andrew Perkin

Document Summary

Battered child syndrome : diagnosable medical and physical symptoms. Medical professionals as responsible for identifying and intervening with child abuse as they would for any other medical diagnosis. Argued for the requirement that physicians behavior. Working definition: legal requirement to report suspected child maltreatment. Motivated by social shift in the 1960s. Confluence of: media uproar, individuals, voluntary associations, state agency/executive. State-by-state: starting with ohio, now, all 50 states. What is the purpose of mandated reporting laws: increase awareness, increase reports, protect children, increase access to resources. Who should be required to report: debate since the inception of such laws, original focus on physicians. Ohio was one of the first states to pass the law, requiring physicians and other medical personnel to report injuries they suspected were caused by physical abuse. Some states go above and beyond: everyone. By 1974 most states had expanded reporting requirements.