Child Protection: An American Legal Crisis

Date

2022-12

Authors

Frere, Marie J.

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Abstract

Child Protection in America is wildly insufficient given that laws regarding child services are largely comprised of reactionary legislation. Reactionary legislation is a piece of legislation meant to be a “quick fix” that is passed in response to public outcry on a notable event. Public opinions on the nature of child abuse are largely formed by misrepresentations in the media, which leads politicians to pass reactionary legislation. However, these “quick fixes” do very little to improve the issue at hand. In the end, little is done to help children who are being abused. Lawmakers know that the legal state of protecting children is contradictory, yet the topic of child protection is not politically prioritized, so it receives little attention. To address the legal and educational insufficiencies of child protection would take years of dedicated work, and there are several contributing factors to consider. Media, politics, public opinion, reactionary legislation, and the American legal tradition are factors that influence the protection of children in America. While research has been completed on each of these factors individually, this paper acts as a compilation of such information with additional analysis and connections made between differing topics. It analyzes current child protection laws and draws conclusions on how these laws are failing, as well as provides suggestions for legal reformation. In addition, it addresses the issue from an educational standpoint by suggesting methods to treat child abuse as a public health issue. This will provide ways to integrate educational measures into public health policies to combat misconceptions on the nature of child abuse.

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Keywords

child protection, child abuse, child neglect, child maltreatment, CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child, protection, abuse, neglect, maltreatment, American law, legal, Honors College

Citation

Frere, M. J. (2022). Child protection: An American legal crisis (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.

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