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Neglect

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By sreyesj006
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Neglect in Childhood
Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.* Kevin Colwell, M.A.** Stephanie Schick, M.Ed.***
For: Encyclopedia of Crime & Punishment Project Director, D. Levinson Berkshire Publishing Group Great Barrington, MA * ChildTrauma Academy, Houston, TX and Children’s Mental Health Programs, Alberta Mental Health Board, Calgary, CA ** ChildTrauma Academy, Houston, TX *** ChildTrauma Academy, Houston, TX Official Citation: Perry, B.D., Colwell, K. and Schick, S. Child Neglect in: Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment Vol 1.(David Levinson, Ed.) Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks pp 192-196, 2002

Introduction
Child neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment (a broad category of behavior that also includes sexual, physical and emotional abuse). The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), a review of abuse and neglect data from all states, reported over 1,000,000 substantiated cases of abuse in its last review (annual year 1994). Fifty two percent of these cases were from neglect. The majority of the 2000 or more documented abuserelated deaths each year are due to neglect. These statistics are likely an underestimate of the actual occurrence of neglect. Neglect is the least studied and most poorly characterized form of child maltreatment. This is due to multiple factors including the difficulty in defining and documenting neglect in children.

Definitions
Neglect can occur in several forms. A broad definition of neglect is any failure to provide for the basic needs of the child. In practice, neglect is defined somewhat differently depending upon local statutory definitions. Common statutory categories include: (1) Medical neglectsuch as failure to provide visits to the doctor for routine checkups, not getting medical attention for injuries, failure to ensure compliance with necessary medical treatments such as providing insulin for a diabetic child.

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