Child family abuse from the perspective of the infant

Abstract

Introduction: Family abuse of minors has gone from a daily practice in homes to a global health problem. It is considered a crime in contemporary societies. In psychological terms, it is a behavioral pathology. In legal terms, it is a criminal behavior that must be legally defined and punished. It is a social phenomenon and in moral and ethical terms, a problem of violation of rights.
Objective: To investigate the existence or lack of recognition of abusive behavior towards children at home by their parental figures.
Methods: A quali-quantitative study was developed in Alamar between January and June 2023. It was carried out in families identified by the doctor´s office health team as abusers or at risk of being so. Interview, observation and graphic expression were used.
Results: Children consider that being undisciplined means not collaborating with assigned household tasks. They are usually beaten in addition to suffering from emotional abuse; however, they do not recognize their status as victims of abuse. Not having considered a gender approach to the analysis of children´s responses has been considered a limitation of the study.
Conclusions: The most frequently described behaviors are physical abuse without harm to the life of the minor. There is no recognition of victimizing position by children. For them, their parents act like that to educate but not to mistreat them. The graphic expression based on the indicators of children's drawing was the instrument that provided the most information.