Wilson-Oyelaran E B
Department of Psychology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Child Abuse Negl. 1989;13(3):379-87. doi: 10.1016/0145-2134(89)90078-1.
Physical abuse and exploitative child labor are two common forms of child abuse in Nigeria. Exploitative child labor exists in both the formal and informal sectors where children work as hairdressers, beggars' assistants, hawkers, and as factory and agricultural workers under conditions characterized by long hours, hazardous environment, and meager remuneration. Research on the incidence of physical abuse in Nigeria is less systematic, and few empirical studies are available. Physical abuse is primarily the result of corporal punishment which has become excessive. Poverty and the existence of a dependent capitalist economy are often proffered as the primary causes of child abuse. While both explanations have some validity, their unidimensional nature limits their explanatory capacity. These explanations also lead to the belief that very little can be done to improve the quality of children's lives until the social order is restructured. The ecological model proposes that child abuse can best be understood if it is analyzed multidimensionally with emphasis on the individual, family, social environment, and cultural milieau, as well as the dynamic interaction between these levels. This model appears appropriate for the study of child abuse in Nigeria, and its application is advocated as a vehicle for improving the quality of child abuse research.
身体虐待和剥削性童工是尼日利亚常见的两种虐待儿童形式。剥削性童工存在于正规和非正规部门，儿童在这些部门从事美发师、乞丐助手、小贩工作，以及在工厂和农业领域工作，工作条件包括长时间劳作、环境危险和报酬微薄。尼日利亚关于身体虐待发生率的研究缺乏系统性，实证研究也很少。身体虐待主要是过度体罚的结果。贫困和依赖资本主义经济的存在常被认为是虐待儿童的主要原因。虽然这两种解释都有一定合理性，但它们的单一维度性质限制了其解释能力。这些解释还导致一种观点，即除非社会秩序得到重组，否则在改善儿童生活质量方面能做的非常有限。生态模型提出，如果从多维角度进行分析，强调个体、家庭、社会环境和文化环境，以及这些层面之间的动态互动，就能最好地理解虐待儿童问题。该模型似乎适用于尼日利亚虐待儿童问题的研究，倡导应用该模型作为提高虐待儿童研究质量的一种手段。
