Child Abuse in Singapore

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Reasons for Child Abuse
Impact
Current Interventions
Initiatives
Limitations
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Child abuse is becoming a prominent public health issue that needs to be addressed in cultural and religious contexts. Child maltreatment is particularly widespread in Singapore for several reasons, resulting in detrimental consequences for children’s social integration, psychological well-being, and physical safety. This paper will address the current issue of child neglect in Singapore, explain possible reasons behind the maltreatment, outline ongoing public interventions, and propose possible solutions to mitigate the problem.

Reasons for Child Abuse

Parenting

One of the primary reasons why people enact strict physical punishment onto their children is their parenting style that has been normalized by Asian society’s culture. For the longest time, caning, or beating minors with a rattan cane, has been considered a historical heritage (Ngiam & Tung, 2016). Although Ngiam and Tung (2016) discovered that harsh punishment like burning a child is considered illegal by the general population, caning is normalized. Ngiam and Tung (2016) state that Singaporean parents believe light caning is a sign of parental care. This cultural peculiarity is inherited from generation to generation, creating a circle of normalization of child abuse.

Collectivist Culture

The second reason for child abuse in Singapore to continue being one of the most underreported illegal offenses is the country’s collectivist culture. Collectivists focus on community and one’s role within it rather than on individualistic values and perceptions (Jefferis et al., 2019). For instance, if a neighbor notices signs of physical maltreatment, they are not going to report them due to the family’s reputation.

Furthermore, collectivist cultures impose strict gender roles and emphasize discipline over freedom (Jefferis et al., 2019). Singaporean parents value their authority and enforce it on their children through physical threats to make minors obey traditions and rules to integrate seamlessly into collectivist societies.

Social Roles of Parents

Thirdly, the personal characteristics and social standing of parents directly influences the level of abuse in families. Chng et al. (2018) has shown that low-paying jobs, high levels of criminal activity, and stress levels make parents more abusive since social factors like income greatly determine one’s psychological stability and mental health. If quality of life stresses a parent, they are more prone to projecting their negative mental states onto a child, either through verbal or physical neglect.

Attachment

Fourthly, the attachment theory can also explain some abusive tendencies of Singaporean parents. Attachment theory explains different types of affection towards parental figures that determine a child’s behavior and future character. If to examine the insecure ambivalent type, it becomes apparent that people who experienced inconsistent parenting in the past are more likely to impose that parenting pattern onto their children (Toth & Manly, 2018).

Therefore, given the prevalence of abusive parenting, maltreatment tendencies continue to flourish by affecting the people’s psychological development and understanding of children’s discipline.

Religion

Lastly, it is essential to address Singapore’s religious background and its role in the current issue. There are three dominant religions in the region fueling parental misconduct. For instance, Christianity tends to impose the concept of sin onto children, which justifies physical punishment as a way of recovery and spiritual cleansing (Bottoms, 2020). Simultaneously, Buddhism also contributes to the issue by its core concept of compassionate violence (Bottoms, 2020).

People of Buddhist belief can justify violence through their religion since it claims that the right intention, or disciplining a child in this case, is what matters instead of the means to achieve it. On the contrary, Islam prompts child abuse by normalizing child marriages and demeaning a child’s role in society by imposing overarching parental authority and prioritizing respect.

Impact

The consequences of child neglect can be tremendous for one’s psychological development, social integration, and future family dynamics. Firstly, abusive parenting disrupts cognitive development of children and makes them more likely to develop a mental illness. Secondly, maltreatment influences children socioeconomically through disallowing them to learn necessary social skills. Thirdly, the cycle of abuse continues since minors inherit maladaptive parenting strategies and apply them in future.

Current Interventions

Given the severity of the issue, governmental agencies and non-profit organizations implement campaigns, projects, and regulations to facilitate the decrease in child neglect. Some of the major stakeholders of this action are Singaporean legal offices who have been actively encouraging people to seek legal advice on child abuse.

As it concerns community efforts, Singapore Children’s Society (SCS) has implemented educational programs to address neglect and understand the issue through interactive exhibits. In their turn, governmental interventions include the efforts to increase reporting by Sector Specific Screening Guide (SSSG) and Child Abuse Reporting Guide (CARG) (Li et al., 2019). Non-governmental agencies also unite with governments to develop voluntary children’s homes.

Initiatives

There are three major anti-neglect initiatives focusing on different target groups. The first group is primary and secondary students that are obliged to have weekly personalized sessions with their teachers to share their concerns and allow instructors to spot signs of abuse. Additionally, the Civic and Moral Education (CME) initiative concentrates on raising awareness through training and tests (Li et al., 2019). The second campaign targets parents by educating them on positive parenting techniques and eliminating cultural bias through social media and easily accessible online portals.

Lastly, the initiatives also tackle community efforts of mitigating child abuse. From a governmental standpoint, non-profit organizations and national agencies implement educational sessions, entertainment programs, and popular media (Li et al., 2019). The collective efforts of three major stakeholders significantly contribute to decreasing child neglect rates.

Another solution to add to the existing efforts can be increasing awareness of mandated reporting among essential workers. Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development has implemented a law that obliges social, medical, and educational workers to report any suspicions regarding child maltreatment. Although it is legally mandatory, many essential workers are unaware of the signs of abuse, ways to communicate it, or feel hesitant to do so due to cultural implications. Therefore, one of the solutions would be to raise awareness of the necessity of reporting through training.

For instance, reporting channels should be made more accessible both to the general public and essential workers by establishing a dedicated website where a claim can be anonymously submitted (Li et al., 2019). Additionally, teachers, emergency departments’ nurses, doctors, and social workers, should be trained to respond to the abuse adequately. According to Hupe and Stevenson (2019), “psychological detachment from students and diminished knowledge about reporting child abuse” are the driving factors of low reporting levels (p. 364). Thus, the training should emphasize the emotional connection with students and patients and informing people about the legal framework.

Limitations

Although the initiatives mentioned above are useful in increasing the extent of reporting, awareness of the issue, and efforts to help children, it is essential to address the limitations. While educational programs are made widely accessible, it is impossible to make them mandatory to ensure the integration of knowledge (Li et al., 2019). Furthermore, factors of cultural normalization of maltreatment serve as barriers to change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, child abuse is a pressing issue in modern Singapore. Numerous factors contribute to the problem from a cultural, traditional, spiritual, social, and psychological perspective. To decrease parental maltreatment rates, local governmental and non-profit agencies focus on educational efforts that will criminalize and mitigate harmful cultural practices. One of the proposed solutions is increasing reporting behaviors among essential workers, as well as eliminating the cycle of abuse.

References

Bottoms, B.L. (2020). An analysis of ritualistic and religion-related child abuse allegations. Religious Studies: An International Journal, 7(2), 199-214. Web.

Chng, G., Li, D., Chu, C., Ong, T., & Lim, F. (2018). Family profiles of maltreated children in Singapore: A latent class analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect, 79(1), 465-475. Web.

Hupe, T., & Stevenson, M. (2019). Teachers’ intentions to report suspected child abuse: The influence of compassion fatigue. Journal of Child Custody, 16(4), 364-386. Web.

Jefferis, T.C., van Rensburg A., & Theron L.C. (2019) Strategies for resilience-focused interventions for youth within collectivistic cultures: reflections on the pathways to resilience project. In L. Van Zyl (Ed.), Evidence-Based Positive Psychological Interventions in Multi-Cultural Contexts (pp. 125-161). Springer.

Li, D., Chu, C., Chng, G., & Ting, M. (2019). Understanding childhood maltreatment and subsequent revictimization: A Singapore perspective. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(2), 371-387. Web.

Ngiam, X. Y., & Tung, S. S. (2016). The acceptability of caning children in Singapore. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 37(2), 158–163. Web.

Toth, S., & Manly, J. (2018). Developmental consequences of child abuse and neglect: implications for intervention. Child Development Perspectives, 13(1), 59-64. Web.

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