Child Abuse and the Courts: Finnish and Swedish Experiences

Abstract

Until recently, child abuse has been regarded primarily as a medical problem (Kempe and Kempe, 1980). Also in Finland it was the physicians who first paid attention to the phenomenon (Tornudd, 1948). This has determined the main emphasis on cases of physical assault, which were at times presented in a sensationalist manner. As a result, people have found it easy to regard these cases as the results of the acts of pathological parents. The logical connection with corporal punishment has remained hidden.KeywordsChild AbuseChild WelfareFamily ViolenceCorporal PunishmentPenal CodeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.