Discussion On Whether Reporting Child Abuse Is Beneficial For The Victim

People ask “How can a person abuse a child?”, but the real question is “How can so many “good” people see it, and not do anything about it?” Our moral ethics have taught us that when we see something, we are obligated to speak up and say something. However, this should depend on the situation, the perfect example of this is the following article. “Is Mandatory Reporting of Child Maltreatment in the Best Interests of the Child?” written by Batya Swift Yasgur. She is a counselor and freelance writer who lives and practices in Teaneck, NJ. This article has many strengths and weaknesses within it, but overall I believe it accomplishes its purpose of informing us on whether reporting child abuse is beneficial for the victim.

By explaining to us how it can harm the child, give supporting evidence behind their reasoning, and back up their argument by quoting experts in the field. In addition, this article has many arguments within its own, they constantly state the opposition side and say how it’s wrong, to back up their points of views with real life situations. For example, will reporting harm the child? Yes, it can endanger “the child not being removed from harm and the abuse continued or intensified; the child was removed from harm but the foster care environment was worse than the family-of-origin environment; and child death following a report or after being removed from the family of origin” as mentioned in the text. The opposition side is valid and strong because it appeals to one's emotions and builds empathy for the child. Nevertheless, the author argues by saying we still need to let authorities know because we are not responsible for the outcome, our duty is to tell. However, the common ground is found were both sides agree they want to remove the victim from the abuser, because they believe no one deserves to be going through such bad conditions, so all they intend to do is help. Although, people have different opinions and views on how they believe they can achieve that.

Furthermore, to elaborate on this articles strengths, it includes very good supporting evidence to its research and statistics. As we can see in the text, they quote “A 2017 meta-analysis of 44 articles found that mandatory reporters were reluctant to report abuse because of confusion regarding less-overt forms of maltreatment, including “mild” physical abuse, emotional abuse, and abuse experienced by children with disabilities. Moreover, they were reluctant to report suspicion of abuse, preferring to report only when they found actual physical evidence. ” With the information stated, the author inserted a footnote where one can find the resource they got this information from at the bottom of the page. The referenced article contains reliable data because, in it is included the setting, outcome and results of all their research. It also incorporates tables, and charts over their founded studies. According to the “Mandated reporters experiences with reporting child maltreatment: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies” article, it contained “the most comprehensive review to date of mandatory reporting of child maltreatment, focusing on mandated reporters experiences with reporting”, making the article itself a stable foundation to get data from. In other words, all information found in the article is not opinion based but backed up with extensive research.

Moreover, this article contains an admiring amount of credible sources. It persuades one to think its a very reliable article by quoting people with high titles. For example the author includes some of Fred Berlin’s words over the topic. Fred Berlin has a “MD, PhD and is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the sexual behavior consultation unit at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland” (Berlin). However, Batya Yasgur also includes in the article comments about what “Dr Hartselle, who is also a psychiatrist in private practice in Providence, Rhode Island, and a national committee member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry” believes about reporting child abuse, to add on to Fred Berlin’s ideas and thoughts.

Overall, as the author emphasized “I won't pretend to say that we don't hesitate, but we must do what's mandated by law”. Meaning, it is understandable that with reporting, come other unpredictable risk, but we still need to tell someone. I personally agree with the author, because yes it’s true, there is a potential way we can worsen the situation, but we can’t also watch it and do nothing about it. Inconclusive, this article defines what is child abuse, how to report it, who will it benefit, why it is important and etc. It is very interesting, informative and believable. However, the constant restating of the opposition side hindered the article into losing its focus.