Problematizing Child Maltreatment: Learning from New Zealand’s Policies

Hamed Nazari (), James C. Oleson and Irene De Haan
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Hamed Nazari: School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, B201, 10 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
James C. Oleson: School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, 10 Symonds Street, Room 923, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Irene De Haan: School of Counselling, Human Services and Social Work, University of Auckland, B201, 10 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Since all policies address problems, they necessarily include implicit or explicit constructions of these problems. This paper explores how child maltreatment has been constructed in New Zealand’s child protection policies. It questions the underlying assumptions of this problem construction and seeks to shed light on what has been omitted. Utilizing a qualitative content analysis of eight key policy documents, this study reveals the construction of child maltreatment has been dominated primarily by a child-centric, risk-focused approach. This approach assigns blame and shifts responsibilities onto parents and families. In addition, the vulnerability discourse and social investment approach underpinning this perspective have allowed important structural factors, such as poverty and inequality, to remain unaddressed. This paper also highlights the one-dimensional focus on the lower social class to control future liabilities. We suggest that the harm inflicted by corporations on children’s well-being is another form of child exploitation currently omitted from the problem construction. We suggest that child abuse should be defined and understood in policy as harm to children’s well-being and argue that the state should prevent and mitigate harm by addressing structural forces of the problem as well as protecting children against corporate harms.

Keywords: child maltreatment; child protection; child well-being; social investment; materialism; corporations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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