Disciplina severa hacia los niños: Una perspectiva internacional/The Harsh Discipline of Children: An International Perspective
Dr. Desmond Runyan
Professor of Social Medicine, Pediatrics and Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina from 1981 to 2011. He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado (Denver) and Director of the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect from August 2011.
For 32 years Dr. Runyan has combine his research on child abuse with his work as a pediatrician. He has authored over 100 articles and book chapters on the subject since 1974. He also heads the largest longitudinal study on the consequences of child abuse which has been conducted to date (LONGSCAN), with a follow-up of abused children or those at risk of abuse spanning more than 20 years. Dr. Runyan has worked with the WHO and UNICEF in epidemiological studies of child maltreatment. He has directed a project for the develop of new instruments to evaluate child maltreatment (ICAST) which has been used by more than 120 scientists from 40 countries. He is currently a member of the Executive Council of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN).
Abstract
Tal vez debido a que gran parte de la investigación sobre el maltrato infantil se ha llevado a cabo en Norteamérica y porque Estados Unidos tiene una alta tasa de homicidios, se ha señalado que el maltrato infantil no se... [ view full abstract ]
Tal vez debido a que gran parte de la investigación sobre el maltrato infantil se ha llevado a cabo en Norteamérica y porque Estados Unidos tiene una alta tasa de homicidios, se ha señalado que el maltrato infantil no se produce en otros lugares y que afecta exclusivamente a Estados Unidos. Son numerosos los estudios realizados en otros países sobre el maltrato infantil, pero debido a que se han utilizado diferentes métodos para medirlo o a que se trata de estudios cualitativos, ha sido prácticamente imposible determinar si se trata de un fenómeno universal o si se encuentra asociado a factores diferentes al país de residencia.
Se han llevado a cabo dos grandes estudios para comparar cómo se disciplina a los niños en diferentes países. Por una parte, UNICEF, basándose en el Conflict Tactics Scale, elaboró un cuestionario compuesto de siete preguntas que se incluyó en la encuesta Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS-3). Por otra parte, los investigadores afiliados a la Red Internacional de Epidemiología Clínica desarrollaron un cuestionario común que se aplicó a muestras aleatorias de la población general en Brasil, Chile, Egipto, India, Filipinas y Estados Unidos. En ambos estudios, se prestó un especial cuidado a la traducción del instrumento a los diferentes idiomas, utilizando un sistema de doble traducción y prestando atención al significado de los ítems más que a su traducción literal.
Ambos estudios llegaron a conclusiones similares, encontrando que entre el 14% y el 16% de la población infantil mundial está sometida a una disciplina abusiva o muy severa. Las tasas de disciplina severa más altas y más bajas se encontraron en dos comunidades del mismo país. El nivel educativo de las madres estuvo fuertemente asociado a la incidencia del castigo físico severo.
El castigo infantil severo no es exclusivo de un único país o región. Los datos de estos estudios apuntan fuertemente a que un mayor nivel educativo de las madres constituye un factor protector. El retraso en la maternidad y el aumento de la educación materna tienen un gran potencial para reducir la incidencia del maltrato hacia los niños y niñas en el mundo y ningún país es inmune al maltrato infantil.
Perhaps because so much of the research on child abuse has taken place in North America, and because the United States has a high homicide rate, it has been stated that child abuse doesn’t happen in other countries and is a uniquely US phenomenon. There are numerous studies of child abuse and neglect in other countries but because different measures have been used or the work has been qualitative, it has been nearly impossible to assess whether child abuse is universal or is associated with factors other than country of residence. Two major studies have been undertaken to compare how children are disciplined in different countries. UNICEF developed a child discipline module of 7 questions from the widely used Conflict Tactics Scale that was included in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS-3). Investigators affiliated with the International Clinical Epidemiology Network developed a common core questionnaire that was administered to random population-based samples in Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, the Philippines, and the United States. With each study the instrument was carefully translated into the local language and back translated with a focus on meaning rather than literal translation.
Both studies came to similar conclusions with between 14% and 16% of the world’s child population being subjected to abusive or very harsh discipline. Rates of harsh discipline were highest and lowest in two communities in the same country. Maternal education was strongly associated with the incidence of harsh physical punishment.
Harsh child punishment is not the province of a single country or region. Our data strongly point to increased maternal education being protective. Delayed childbearing and increased maternal education have great potential to reduce the burden of child abuse for the world’s children and no country is immune to child abuse.
Session
KN-5 » Keynote (09:00 - Wednesday, 9th October, Don Bernardo-O'Higgins Rooms)
