What is the definition of child abuse?
Depending on who is asked, the definition of child abuse varies. There are four categories of child abuse; physical, emotional, sexual and neglect. The United States’ Federal website for child welfare states that child abuse is defined as at minimum any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation of a child or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm. In Texas abuse means the act or omission by a person of physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child or the genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child, including an injury that is at variance with the history or explanation given and excluding an accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or conservator that does not expose the child to a substantial risk of harm, the failure to make a reasonable effort to prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury or substantial harm to the child, the current use by a person of a controlled substance in a manner or to the extent that the use results in physical, mental, or emotional injury to a child, or causing, expressly permitting, or encouraging a child to use a controlled substance.
