Child abuse refers to the maltreatment of young children, which results in several social, emotional and psychological problems. In the United States, the problem was first identified as a major issue when in 1962 C. Henry Kempe conducted a survey and found out that in eighty-eight hospitals, there were some 302 children who had suffered some injury as a result of abuse and were termed “battered”. This for the first time brought the problem to the forefront though there had been some other studies before this too. The public was aware that child abuse was present but that it was present in epidemical proportions was it came to know with the publication of the research by Kempe.

The children were found to be suffering from multiple injuries and since then the government got involved in order to take some concrete measures to prevent child abuse in the country. By 1966 all the states passed legislation to safeguard the rights of the children and to offer support to “battered children”. Due to this there was an avalanche of reports highlighting child abuse from every corner of the country. Initially only the physicians were the main source of such reports because they were the ones dealing with battered young patients but after eventually more and more people started coming forward and now the prominent sources include teachers, nurses, counselors, and the general public. (read full text…)