Aggressively Abused Children

The dictionary, as well as common usage, defines aggressive abuse as maltreatment and we usually think of it as inflicting bodily pain and harm. In the same context, however, the dictionary also defines abusing as “performing an established unjust practice” (The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1946) which implies social and cultural variations. In this country, with its heterogenous groups and rapidly changing value systems, a necessary and legitimate educational means of discipline to one may be a form of abuse to another. For example, parents often ask nursery school teachers to spank their children and criticize preschools for refraining from physical punishment. Indeed, one of the preschool or day-care teacher's first tasks with parent and child frequently focuses on clarifying such differences between home and school rules and assuring them that the nursery will provide order and safety without paddling.

From elementary school on, physical punishment of children is permitted by law. In contrast, the law protects adult offenders from any form of bodily discipline, excepting the recent reintroduction of capital punishment. In regard to children, however, the law is far from clear cut. While allowing physical punishment, it not only prohibits aggressive abuse but often extends the term. For example, according to Ohio State (Rev. Code Ann. 2151.42.1) we must consider “any wound, injury, disability, or condition of such a nature as to reasonably indicate abuse or neglect of such child.” This purposeful vagueness covers a large number of conditions which may be viewed and interpreted differently by different people, makes it hard to draw the line between child rearing practices and abuse or to pinpoint exactly when parental handling constitutes neglect or significant mental and bodily harm.

A psychological definition includes not only maltreatment resulting in bodily hurt and physical and/or emotional neglect but a whole host of more subtle forms of child-adult interactions