There are four types of child abuse- physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect.
Physical abuse is any act which results in a non-accidental trauma or physical injury.
This includes unreasonable, severe corporal punishment or unjustifiable punishment. Physical abuse can result in bruises, burns, lacerations, abraisions, skeletal, head or internal injuries. Injuries can can happen accidentally when a child is at play, but if the explanations do not fit the injury or if similar injuries occur frequently, the child may be sufffering from abuse. Unfortunately, in many cases this type of abuse occurs without noticeable physical injuries, which is often needed for child protective service intervention. Emotional abuse is hard to define and even more difficult to diagnose because the bruises and scarring occur to the child's mind and psyche, not the body.