Abstract
Ten years have gone by since the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act (2012) 1 came into being. Understandable as the prominence given to sexual abuse is, not much has been written in the Indian context on either physical abuse or emotional abuse. When we look at Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), 2 it is obvious that ACEs cover a range of adversities that children experience and endure. All this indicates that child abuse as a phenomenon spans a range of domains, contexts, severity, and impact. This multi-dimensional nature of child abuse renders it both complex and challenging. This special issue of the journal is an effort to capture the multi-dimensionality of child abuse.
Risk or protective factors, as they exist in the family, are covered in two original articles. One addresses the mediating role of the family environment on the impact of abuse experience on mental health and happiness among students. The other examines the role of ACEs in adult outcomes, particularly risk behaviors. As pointed out earlier, there is a dearth of local studies on emotional abuse. How emotional abuse is defined and how it is studied has been a matter of debate. One article is a narrative review of structured instruments for childhood emotional abuse in clinical research. Another article presents data on this experience in adolescents presenting to a clinical setting for various mental health issues. As court processes have become prominent in sexual abuse cases, it was pertinent and timely to present a comprehensive article on court preparation. Mental health professionals will be increasingly called upon to assist in this context and a clear framework is presented. This is supplemented by a case series on the same issue.
We have the honor of featuring a perspective piece by the first Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. It was under her chairpersonship that the first drafting of the POCSO Act was undertaken. The commission is the monitoring body for POCSO but also takes cognizance of many child-abuse-related issues. The definitive guidelines to eliminate corporal punishment in schools is one such example. 3 To emphasize the transdisciplinary approach, this perspective details principles of child jurisprudence in the context of sexual offences. Indeed, the intersections of abuse, trauma, clinical assistance, and legal processes run the risk of re-traumatization. Transdisciplinarity also entails a trauma informed approach. There are two perspective articles covering this approach. We have an interesting article on post-traumatic growth. This is an established construct but a perspective on this adds to the richness of this special issue of the journal.
There are many child abuse and child rights focused agencies across the country doing dedicated work. This special issue presents two articles from medical–social field work. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics has an Indian Child Abuse, Neglect and Child Labor group. 4 Activities of this group and related initiatives are shared in one article. The other article presents a community-based organizations work at the interface of mental health and social care, again emphasizing the need for transdisciplinary approaches.
Finally, clinical and procedural complexities are captured in three case reports. Recent changes in psychiatric classification to include complex PTSD 5 and the tensions between legal and ethical processes are captured in these case reports.
The hope in this special issue is to highlight the many dimensions of child abuse and draw attention to the imperative of transdisciplinary approaches. It is not enough for a mental health professional to diagnose PTSD. One has to have knowledge of legal processes to prevent re-traumatization. It is not enough for a judge to listen to evidence and adjudicate. The legal system needs to be sensitized to developmental and mental health implications of evidence gathering.