Tyndalls Park Children's Centre, 31 Tyndalls Park Road, Bristol BS81PH, UK.
Arch Dis Child. 2010 Jan;95(1):59-67. doi: 10.1136/adc.2008.143156.
Emotional abuse lacks the public and political profile of physical and sexual abuse, despite being at their core and frequently their most damaging dimension. Difficulties in recognition, definition and legal proof put children at risk of remaining in damaging circumstances. Assessment of the emotional environment is necessary when interpreting possible physical or sexual abuse and balancing the risks and benefits of intervention. This article considers factors contributing to professional difficulty. It is suggested that understanding emotional abuse from the first principles of the causes and implications of the dysfunctional parent-child relationships it represents can help prevention, recognition and timely intervention. It may facilitate the professional communication needed to build up a picture of emotional abuse and of the emotional context of physical and sexual abuse. Doing so may contribute to the safety of child protection practice. The long-term cost of emotional abuse for individuals and society should be a powerful incentive for ensuring that development of services and clinical research are priorities, and that the false economy of short-term saving is avoided.
情感虐待虽然是身体虐待和性虐待的核心且往往是最具破坏性的方面，但却缺乏公众和政治关注度。由于难以识别、定义和提供法律证据，儿童很容易继续处于这种有害的环境中。在解释可能的身体或性虐待以及权衡干预的风险和益处时，评估情感环境是必要的。本文考虑了导致专业困难的因素。有人认为，从功能失调的亲子关系的原因和影响的基本原则来理解情感虐待，可以帮助预防、识别和及时干预。这有助于专业人员进行沟通，以了解情感虐待以及身体和性虐待的情感背景。这样做可能有助于保障儿童保护工作的安全。个人和社会遭受情感虐待的长期代价应该成为确保优先发展服务和临床研究、避免短期节省的错误经济模式的强大动力。
