Protecting children from nutritional and medical neglect in sub‐SaharanAfrica: A five‐country study

Abstract

This study critically considers the applicability of conceptions of child neglect that have been theorised by British and American scholars and promulgated in African countries through the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The child protection legislation of five sub‐Saharan nations was compared in order to examine the presumptions embedded in their provisions concerning child neglect. These were then appraised in relation to the socio‐economic conditions pertaining in each country. Food insecurity, over‐reliance on staples and high infection rates among children in conjunction with hard to access health care and poor quality services contest the validity and relevance of dominant Anglo‐centric definitions of child neglect and methods for detecting it. The study concluded that greater congruence between national child protection legislation and the socio‐economic challenges faced by families in sub‐Saharan countries would better protect children against neglect. Key Practitioner Message: ● Child neglect is an ethnocentric concept that requires interrogation to test its relevance before applying it to developing country contexts. ● In sub‐Saharan countries, conditions of absolute poverty and grossly inadequate public services profoundly affect the ability of parents or guardians to meet their children's basic needs. ● Laws that frame child protection systems need to recognise the inter‐relationship between public services, poverty and parental care in the neglect of children.

Intergenerational transmission of violence and resilience in conflict-affected Burundi: a qualitative study of why some children thrive despite duress

“…Findings show that in these disadvantaged socio-ecological environments, caregiving can impact children's functioning and their role in reproducing violence, both as risk and protective factors. Besides addressing structural causes of violence and intergenerational inequity (Verwimp & Bundervoet, 2009 ; Berckmoes & White, 2014 ; Laird, 2016 ), in line with Jordans et al ( 2013 ); Rieder & Elbert ( 2013 ); and Betancourt et al ( 2015 ), our findings suggest that interventions aimed at supporting caregivers are promising for breaking cycles of violence in conflict-affected environments.…”

‘Even though I Am Blind, I Am Still Human!’: the Neglect of Adolescents with Disabilities’ Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Contexts

“…In addition, the concept of neglect is shaped by poverty and culture (Coope and Theobald 2006;Roche 2013;Tang 2008;Seth and Raman 2014). In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, families are not necessarily neglecting their children when they do not seek timely healthcare or provide adequate nutrition (Laird 2016a) or when they insist their children forgo schooling in favour of animal herding (Laird 2016b).…”

Assessing the factor structure of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and cumulative effect of abuse and neglect on mental health among adolescents in conflict-affected Burundi

“…Africa occur in higher rates compared to high-income countries (Laird, 2016;Meinck et al 2015). However, comparative studies of child maltreatment across nations is challenging as prior research studies vary greatly in terms of definitions of child abuse and neglect, nature of the study sample, recruitment, scales/instruments used, procedures followed, and due to diverse cultural/or socio-cultural contexts (Meinck et al, 2015;Nichols et al, 2013;Stoltenborgh et al 2013).…”