Survey Of Child Beating In N.Z.

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31407, 28 June 1967, Page 8

Survey Of Child Beating In N.Z.

A law granting immunity from liability to anyone reporting, in good faith, suspected child beatings would do much to clarify the course of action for doctors, says an editorial in the latest issue of the “New Zealand Medical Journal.”

Under the heading. “Taking it out on the baby,” the journal says the problem of parental assault on young children remains a major one.

“In the last few years progress has been made in detecting cases of the battered baby syndrome, and as a result some infants have probably been saved from further injury or even death by being removed from their home environment.

“However, we remain distressingly ignorant of the causes of parental cruelty and, as a result, our preventive measures are totally inadequate.” The journal says a well planned investigation being made by the Child Welfare Division of the Education Department must be supported.

An official of the division in Christchurch said yesterday that the survey was New Zea-land-wide and would last a year. One of the aims was to determine the incidence of the problem. The journal says that there is a general unwillingness to notify the Child Welfare Division or the police unless there is overwhelming evidence of brutal assault

“Unfortunately, though the first incident may be indefinite and not severe, the second or third assault may be fatal.

“It should therefore be a rule that any case in which assault is suspected should be reported.” The journal says that the United States Childrens Bureau has drawn up a model state law requiring all doctors and hospitals to report suspected child beatings immediately to the police. This law granted immunity from civil or criminal liability to anyone reporting in good faith, and the police were given the duty of investigating each case and deciding whether to take criminal action, or to refer the case to the social services.

“This appears to be a sound and sensible approach, and passage of a similar law in New Zealand would do much to clarify the doctor’s course of action,” says the journal. Until such a law was passed. each doctor must be guided by his own conscience, but unless there were exceptional circumstances, it would seem wise to do two things—admit the child to hospital, and report the circumstances to the police or to the Child Welfare Division. “Many children are beaten, not because their parents are brutal, but because the mother or father has been under such tension that normal, rational behaviour has been impossible. Overwork, insecurity and ignorance may well play a far larger part than criminal brutality.”