title: Cross-cultural variations in the definition of child abuse: nurses in the United States and the United Kingdom.
abstract: As a form of social deviance, child abuse is subject to the definitions of various audiences rather than being intrinsic to the act. What is termed abuse varies between cultures, subcultures, etc. An exploratory study investigates similarities and differences in the definition of abuse among a sample of pediatric nurses in two U.S. (N = 18) and two U.K. (N = 34) hospitals. A questionnaire asked respondents to indicate whether they would define each of 14 different acts by a parent to be 'abusive'. The acts, ranging from 'yelling' to 'burning with a cigarette', were presented under two conditions: a five-year old child who, parents claim, (1) was 'yelling and getting on my nerves', and (2) 'would not stop throwing things and damaging furniture even when told to stop over and over'. Attribution of abuse was not greatly influenced by the two given conditions which provoked it. Nurses in the U.K. were slightly more likely than U.S. nurses to consider each act abusive, but the differences were significant for only one item: beating a child with a strap. Differences were reduced controlling for race. Among the U.S. nurses, whites were more likely to see each act as abusive than blacks, but differences were significant for only two items: beating a child with a strap and confinement to a room for the day. Cultural, subcultural, and professional variations in attribution of child abuse are discussed with implications for epidemiological findings. Suggestions for directions in future research on the attribution of abuse are offered.
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D044383:Black People; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D044465:White People