국내외 아동학대 관련법과 처리절차에 반영된 아동 정서학대 및 방임의 정의

Abstract

This study closely examines how child emotional abuse and neglect are defined not only by international regulations but also in South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Those of the United Kingdom influenced Korean policies on children, and the child abuse policies of the United States were the prime contributor to the establishment of child abuse prevention policies in Korea. This study seeks to explore how child emotional abuse and neglect are punished and dealt with in those two aforementioned countries and reflected in the specific guidelines for clarifying the definition and understanding of child emotional abuse and neglect in Korea. The research findings show that child emotional abuse and neglect are synonymous with failure in providing responsible care and any act that undermines a child’s healthy emotional development, including infringement of children’s rights and mental exploitation. Thus there is an obvious need for discussions at a social and policy level, with consideration of the following. Laws and regulations regarding the abolishment of child corporal punishment need urgent review, and we must analyze standards of emotional abuse and neglect to draw obvious lines between disciplinary behavior and illegal, abusive behavior towards children. Also, we must state a uniform understanding of definitions and types of emotional abuse and neglect in the most specific ways possible. We must expand the definition of a perpetrator of child abuse not to the parents but to the actual perpetrator, and we must thoroughly study the definitions to avoid legal ambiguity. The subject to legal protection also needs expansion, so that the law requires anyone who provides childcare to report emotional abuse and neglect.