Learn to recognize a child who may be hurting and find out what you can do to help reduce the incidence of child abuse. There are four major types of child maltreatment. Each type is defined in both federal and state legislation. The federal legislation provides guidelines for states by identifying acts and behaviors that characterize maltreatment. Child Neglect Child neglect is defined as a failure to provide for the child's basic needs.
Neglect can be on a physical, educational, or emotional level.
Physical neglect includes such actions as refusal or delay in seeking health care, abandonment, inadequate supervision and expulsion from the home or refusal to allow a runaway child to return home. Physical Abuse Physical abuse is defined as the infliction of physical injury resulting form beating, biting, burning, punching, shaking, or otherwise harming a child. The parent or guardian may not have necessarily intended to injure the child, rather the injuries may have resulted from over zealous discipline or corporal punishment. Sexual Abuse Sexual abuse includes touching or fondling of a child's genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic material. Sexual abuse is believed to be the most underreported form of child abuse because of the secrecy and shamefulness that so often accompanies it.