Child Physical Abuse
While the Federal government was developing these social safety nets for children at risk, professionals within the worlds of medicine, education, and law enforcement were becoming more adept at identifying physical signs of child abuse. In 1961, Dr. C. Henry Kempe, a pediatric radiologist, coined the term “battered child syndrome” to describe the host of injuries that abused children sustain at the hands of their abusers. Within time, this syndrome grew to encompass other forms of abuse such as malnourishment, failure to thrive, medical neglect, and sexual and emotional abuse.
Additionally, Kempe proposed that physicians be mandated reporters of child abuse. In short order, a majority of states passed legislation requiring the reporting of child abuse to social service agencies. While only doctors were initially required to report serious non-accidental injuries of children, laws were eventually passed which included any professional working with children into this mandated reporter classification.
