Social Work Now, Issue 48, pages 10-17.
Child neglect is one of the most insidious and damaging forms of maltreatment, having serious long-term consequences on the health and development of the child. It is also the second most frequent Child, Youth and Family child maltreatment investigation finding, with four out of every thousand New Zealand children identified as experiencing neglect in 2009 (Mardani, 2010). It is likely, however, that this under-represents the true extent of child neglect, as neglect is arguably the most complex form of maltreatment to identify (Stevenson, 2005). There are a number of reasons why assessing and intervening in child neglect is so complex. First, determining and then operationalising definitions of neglect is challenging. Neglect is usually perceived as a failure or an act of omission on the part of the carer to meet the needs of the child (International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, 2007). This is reflected in the recently published interagency guide Working Together to Keep Children and Young People Safe (Child, Youth and Family, 2010, p. 10) which makes reference to different forms of neglect including physical neglect, neglectful supervision, emotional neglect, medical neglect, and educational neglect.