Question

for what purpose is mass media used under community welfare programmes?

Answer 1

In the year 1990-1991 reports of child abuse and neglect to Australian child protection authorities numbered 49,721. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW 2002), in 2000-2001 reports had increased to 115,471; following investigation, 27,367 cases were confirmed or substantiated as involving child abuse and/or neglect.

The physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect of children have a long recorded history. In the mid to late 1800s, Toulmouche, Tardieu, Bernard and Lacassagne reported that children were often sexually assaulted, that children reported honestly about their abuse, and that the perpetrators of abuse were often the children's fathers and brothers (Olafsen, Corwin and Summit 1993).

Corby (1993) notes that Kempe's 'discovery' of the battered child syndrome in 1962, and the 'discovery' of child sexual abuse in Britain in the 1980s were in fact 're-discoveries'. According to Corby (1993: 16): 'Child abuse is not a new phenomenon, nor is public or state concern about it. Nevertheless fresh attempts to tackle child mistreatment are usually accompanied by the declaration that it is a new and as yet undiscovered problem. This 'newness' is seen as an important part of the process of establishing it as an issue requiring resources to tackle it.'

Historically, children have been accorded little, if any, status in society. Deprived of rights and perceived as the property of their parents or guardians, children could be treated any way their 'owners' saw fit (see Cleverley and Phillips 1987; Archard 1993). In this context, community awareness and acceptance of the reality of child abuse, particularly child abuse perpetrated by family members, has been slow. 'Stranger danger', beliefs that children's stories are untrustworthy, and beliefs that parents always act in the best interests of their children, appear to be easier for communities to accept.

Such beliefs may present people with a means of turning a blind eye to the reality that child abuse is often perpetrated by adults well known to children, in children's own homes, and in other trusted environments. In relation to child sexual abuse, for example, Kitzinger and Skidmore (1995: 53) quote one interviewee from Kidscape in the United Kingdom: 'People don't want to be associated with child abuse as incest . . . it's a message we try to get across to the press but they're very wary . . . it's easier and safer to concentrate on strangers and bullying.'

Olafsen, Corwin and Summit (1993) have argued that cycles of awareness followed by suppression have typified society's response to child sexual abuse. Arguably, this has been society's response to all forms of child abuse and neglect of children. Mass media education and prevention campaigns present one means of breaking cycles of suppression and denial. The media have played a key role in periodically placing the issue of child abuse on the public agenda. ).