Original ArticlesThe Rate of Physical Child Abuse in Chinese Families: A Community Survey in Hong Kong☆
Introduction
Child abuse has received substantial attention and research in the West during past decades (D’Antonio et al 1993; Finkelhor and Dziuba-Leatherman 1994; Finkelhor and Korbin 1988; Korbin 1991; Levinson 1989), however, the problem has been relatively unexplored within the Chinese societies. This paper focuses on parental child-battering and adopts the term “child abuse” throughout to refer to this form of child abuse.
Traditional Chinese culture emphasizes the ethic of xiao (hsiao), or filial piety, which includes moral principles that are conducive to child abuse. According to this ethic, children are considered property of their parents and can be dealt with by their parents with little or no interference from outsiders. Wu (1981), Wu 1996) summarizes various filial behavior Chinese children display when interacting with their parents including: sacrificing one’s own life for the parents’ sake, suffering self-inflicted bodily pain to fulfill parents’ wishes or demands, attending sick parents, having strong attachments to parents, and supporting the parents despite difficult circumstances or through self-sacrifice. Chinese parents emphasize two mechanisms in child rearing to train their children’s filiality: (1) the inducement of both physical and emotional closeness so that a lifelong bond is assured, and (2) the maintenance of parental authority and children’s obedience through harsh discipline (Ho 1987, Ho 1996; Wu 1981, Wu 1996). Despite rapid social changes in Chinese societies such as China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, filial piety remains a salient moral code governing the parent-child relationship (Ho 1987, Ho 1996; Wu 1981, Wu 1996).
There is a paucity of literature and research on child abuse in Chinese societies. China has acknowledged that child abuse and neglect occurs but reported that there are very “few cases” (Korbin 1981; Lythcott 1977; Wray 1975). However, severe beatings of children, infanticide, child slavery, the selling of young girls as prostitutes, child betrothal, and foot-binding have been described in Chinese newspapers, magazines, novels, and movies (Honig and Hershatter 1988; Korbin 1981). Although child abuse is not a sanctioned behavior in Taiwan and offenders are subject to public criticism and legal prosecution, the public as well as related professionals often perceive instances of child abuse as isolated cases rather than part of a widespread phenomenon. Recently, researchers in Taiwan have begun to attend to the problem. For example, Wu 1981Wu 1996 has examined the functional relationships among cultural values of filial piety, parent-child relationship, and child rearing practices in Taiwan. Huang et al (1992) have extended the use of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory by Milner as a screening tool to identify at risk families and children.
Child abuse did not receive widespread attention in Hong Kong until 1977. A study in 1979 showed that about 200 physical child abuse cases were identified by government departments and welfare agencies during the period of September 1978 to February 1979 (Hong Kong Council of Social Service 1979). The study also found that 68.2% of the victims were older than 6 years of age, boys were being abused more than girls, and the majority of abusers were mothers over 30 years of age. Young infants were rarely seen with bizarre forms of injury that were reported in the West; rather, children were seen with injuries resulting from culturally acceptable excessive discipline (Lieh-Mak et al 1983).
Recent official statistics by the Child Protection Registry showed that there were 285 cases of physical child abuse from July 1994 to March 1995 (Tang and Davis 1996). As compared to the 1979 study, there was an increase in female victims of child abuse (44.4% vs 55.6%), with the abuse committed equally by fathers and mothers, and older children were more likely the victims, with 83.2% older than 6 years of age. Current studies in this area also explore the occurrence of child abuse among Chinese adolescents. Tang (1996) found that 62% of the surveyed adolescent college students experienced verbal abuse, 13% endured minor physical violence, and 8% suffered severe violence at the hands of their parents during the surveyed year. Finally, various studies have shown that the parents’ reasons for child abuse include disobedience, poor school performance, crying, conflict with spouse over child-rearing, and conduct disorder (Hong Kong Council of Social Service 1979; Lieh-Mak et al 1983; Tang and Davis 1996). As of today, there are no mandatory laws for reporting child abuse in Hong Kong.
The present study aims to provide a representative profile of child abuse in Hong Kong Chinese families by including a randomly selected sample of 1,019 households. It is hypothesized that the unique features of filial piety in Chinese culture will create a different pattern of child abuse in Hong Kong when compared to Western societies. Based on past local studies, it is argued that child abuse will occur most frequently in older children when they begin their formal schooling around 6–7 years of age. At this time, parents often exercise strict discipline to maintain their own authority as well as to motivate their children to achieve high academic, social, and moral goals. Chinese culture is patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal; boys are expected to carry on the family names and become the primary providers for their aging parents. It is thus hypothesized that boys will be subject to stricter discipline and receive more abuse than girls, especially those who are the only child in the family. Demographic correlates of child abuse will also be explored in this study.
Section snippets
Sample and Administration
During the last decade, Hong Kong has developed one of the most advanced and widespread local telecommunication networks in the Asia-Pacific region, and over 85% of the households in Hong Kong own at least one or more telephone lines (Ming 1997). There is an increasing trend of community surveys, and opinion polls are being conducted by telephone instead of household visits, because the former are less costly and time-consuming than the latter. The telephone interview has been shown to be a
Results
For the present study, the term “child abuse” was broadly defined to include parents’ minor or severe physical violence against their children. The overall base rate is 526 per 1,000 children (552 per 1,000 for boys and 494 per 1,000 for girls) for minor violence, and 461 per 1,000 children (502 per 1,000 for boys and 394 per 1,000 for girls) for severe violence. In other words, about half of the children age16 years of age or less experienced one or more incidents of either minor or severe
Discussion
The present study showed that parental child-battering was quite common in Chinese families in Hong Kong. The results revealed that about half of the children in Hong Kong aged at or below 16 years experienced one or more incidents of either minor or severe violence by their parents during family conflicts in the survey year. Moreover, child abuse did not occur evenly across child and parent variables, with some groups at higher risks of abuse than others.
Our profiles of child abuse were first
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This study was supported by an earmarked grant awarded by the University Grant Council of Hong Kong.