The Rate of Physical Child Abuse in Chinese Families: A Community Survey in Hong Kong

doi:10.1016/S0145-2134(98)00010-6

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 22, Issue 5, May 1998, Pages 381-391

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(98)00010-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to describe the extent and pattern of parental child battering in Chinese families in Hong Kong. It was hypothesized that the unique feature of filial piety in Chinese culture will create a different pattern of child abuse in Hong Kong when compared to Western societies.

Method: A telephone survey of 1,019 households randomly selected from the local residential telephone directory was completed. Three hundred and fifty-nine fathers and 660 mothers of a child at or under the age of 16 participated in the study. The occurrence of child abuse was assessed by the Chinese version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus 1979).

Results: The base rate of physical child abuse was 526 per 1,000 children for minor violence and 461 per 1,000 children for severe violence. Minor violence was most likely directed at children aged 3–6 years or children without siblings in the family; and committed by mothers, parents aged 19–37 years, or housewives/unemployed fathers. The highest rate of severe violence occurred among boys or children aged 3–6 years; and was committed by mothers, parents aged 19–37 years, or housewives/unemployed fathers. Common risk factors of child abuse were identified for Chinese and US families.

Conclusions: When compared to US families, Chinese families showed slightly lower rates of minor violence but higher rates of severe violence toward children. Children aged 3–6 years were the most vulnerable victims and female caregivers the most likely abusers in both US and Chinese families. Our findings also suggested that it cannot be assumed that results based on local official statistics and clinical samples regarding the extent of child abuse and characteristics of the victims and abusers can be accurately extended to community samples.

Résumé

Objectif: Cette étude décrit l’étendue et la forme de maltraitance des enfants dans des familles Chinoises à Hong Kong. L’hypothèse formulée est que la prése d’une caractéristique aussi spécifique à la culture Chinoise que la piété filiale crée une forme différente de maltraitance à Hong Kong, comparée au sociétés Occidentales.

Méthode: Une étude téléphonique de 1019 ménages, sélectionnés au hasard à partir bottin téléphonique local a été effectuée trois cent cinquante neuf pères et 660 mères d’un enfant âgé en dessous de 16 ans ont participé à l’étude. Le présence de mauvais traitements a été évaluée à partir de la version Chinoise du Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus 1979).

Résultats: Le taux de base de mauvais traitements physiques était de 526 pour 1000 enfants pour les violences mineures et de 461 pour 1000 enfants pour les violences sévères. Les violences mineures étaient dirigées sur des enfants âgé entre 3 et 6 ans sans fratrie; et par des mères, parents âgé entre 19 et 37 ans, des ménagères/pères sans emploi. Le taux le plus élevé de violence sévère a été retrouvé parmi les garçons ou enfants âgé entre 3 et 6 ans; et par des mères, parents, âgé entre 19 et 37 ans, ou des ménagères/pères sans emploi. Des facteurs de risque communs ont été éta pour les familles Chinoises et Américaines (USA).

Conclusions: Comparées aux familles Americaines, les familles Chinoises présentaient de taux légèrement plus bas de violences mineures, mais des taux plus élevés violences sévères à l’égard des enfants. Ces enfants âgé de 3 à 6 ans étaient les victimes les plus vulnérables, et les femmes, les auteurs d’abus les plus plauxibles aussi bien pour les familles Chinoises qu’Américaines. Cependant on ne peut pas étendre les données de cet échantillon local ni le donnés cliniques à des échantillons communautaires.

Resumen

Objetivo: Este estudio se propuso describir la cantidad y las caracterı́sticas del maltrato fı́sico infantil realizado por los padres en las familias chinas de Hong Kong. Se planteó la hipótesis de que las particulares caracterı́sticas de las parituclares caracterı́sticas de la dependencia filial en la cultura china producirı́an la existencia de patrones diferentes de maltrato infantil en comparación con la sociedad occidental.

Método: Se llevó a cabo una encuesta telefónica en 1019 hogares seleccionados al azar en el directorio telefónico de la ciudad. Participaron en el estudio un total de 359 padres y 660 madres con hijos/as con una ed igual o inferior a 16 años. La existencia de maltrato infantil fue evaluada utilizando la versión china del Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus 1979).

Resultados: La tasa de maltrato fı́sico infantil fue de 526 casos por cada 1000 niños para la “violencia severa”. La “violencia menor” fue mas frecuentemente dirigida a niños/as de entre 3 y 6 años y sin hermanos/as e la familia; fue realizada más frecuentemente por las madres, en familias con padres entre 19 y 37 años y por amas de casa o padres desempleados. Las tasas más altas de “violencia severa” se produjeron en el caso de los niños varones y para todos los niños/as de entre 3 y 6 años; al igual que en la “violencia menor”, fue también realizada más frecuentemente por las madre en familias con padres entre 19 y 37 años y por amas de casa o padres desempleados.

Conclusiones: En comparación con las familias americanas, las familias chinas muestran unos porcentajes ligeramente menores de “violencia meno pero tasas más altas de “violencia severa” hacia los niños/as. Tanto para las familias americanas como para las chinas, los ninos/as con edades entre 3 y 6 años son las vı́ctimas más vulnerables y las mujeres que les cuidan lo perpetradores más habituales. Nuestros resultados también sugirieron que puede ser asumido que los resultados, basados en las estadı́sticas oficiales locales y en las muestras clı́nicas, en relación a la cantidad de casos de maltrato infantil y a las caracteristicas de las vı́ctimas y de los perpetradores puedan generalizarse a las muestras de la comunidad.

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.

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Original ArticlesThe Rate of Physical Child Abuse in Chinese Families: A Community Survey in Hong Kong☆

Abstract

Résumé

Resumen

Introduction

Section snippets

Sample and Administration

Results

Discussion

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Child Abuse & Neglect

Factor similarity of the Conflict Tactics Scale across samples, spouses, and sitesIssues and Implications

Journal of Family Violence

Child maltreatmentInternational perspectives

Maternal-Child Nursing Journal

Victimization of children

American Psychologist

Intimate violence

Chinese patterns of socializationA critical review

Filial piety and its psychological consequences

Report on study on child abuse cases

Violence against women

Low social economic status family and child maltreatment

Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Science

Original Articles
The Rate of Physical Child Abuse in Chinese Families: A Community Survey in Hong Kong☆