ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

To organize preventive measures for infant neglect, this research compared neglect with other types of child abuse, and analysed the various causes of infant neglect in case studies of infant abuse that were collected in 2011 by the child protective agencies in South Korea. It was found that infant neglect was a common occurrence in households. The number of male infants neglected was higher than that of female infants, with infants younger than one year old the most neglected, followed by infants younger than two years old. There appeared to be no distinguishing characteristics for the victimized infants. Next, the number of male perpetrators was higher than that of female perpetrators, and most of the perpetrators of infant neglect were mostly likely to be aged between twenty and thirty years old. In addition, the greater per cent of perpetrators were unemployed and earned less than $1,500 a month. An examination of some causes of infant neglect indicated that the income and characteristics of the perpetrators were significant factors –the perpetrators with economic difficulties were more likely to neglect their infants. As for some factors of the victimized infants, age, family types, and relationship with the perpetrators affected whether neglect would occur or not. The younger the infants were, the higher the chances of them to be neglected. Also, infant neglect occurred more frequently in single-parent households. There was a higher possibility for infants to be neglected by their biological parents. According to the results, intervention by the government and local communities would be strongly advised in cases involving high-risk families. Furthermore, considering that the victimized infants were not likely to be detected by others, the construction of an early detection system for infant neglect as a joint initiative between child protective agencies and Dreamstart should be encouraged.

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