Analyses of Criminal Judgments about Domestic Child Abuse Cases in Taiwan

Abstract

Child abuse has negative impacts on the well-being of children and often leads to adverse consequences, such as suicide, alcohol addiction, depression, and substance abuse. To better understand domestic child abuse in Taiwan, this study analyzed 73 criminal judgments (open-access documents) in which the victims of domestic child abuse were children below the age of 12 from the “Judicial Yuan Law and Regulations Retrieving System” database. There were 73 victims and 91 perpetrators involved. The results indicated that younger children were more likely to be victims of physical abuse, and the majority of death cases were committed by biological parents and cohabiting partners. The perpetrators tended to be young males with lower education. Male cohabiting partners appeared to be a high-risk population for child abuse. Approximately 63% of perpetrators experienced poverty, and 24.7% suffered from marital discord. In the 73 cases, 61.6% of the victims died, 21.9% were mildly injured, and 16.5% were severely injured. The sentencing was related to the level of injury, with perpetrators of mild injury sentenced to less than one year while perpetrators with victim death were sentenced to a longer period of imprisonment. It is suggested that parents at higher risk require greater financial and social support and should be educated on appropriate disciplinary techniques.