The battered child syndrome in Singapore

Abstract

Child battering is no different in the East than in the West, and, as in the West, it is impossible to be certain of its true incidence as many cases are either missed or not reported to the authorities. Its rising prevalence in Singapore is partly due to better diagnosis but certainly also due to the rapid change in life-styles in the last 20 years. One of the contributing factors is the common habit now of parents fostering their children out to foster parents who may do this privately or foster out to nursing 'farms' where the children receive very little stimulation. Whichever way, the child finds difficulty in establishing a close bond with his biological parents who may visit him daily or the parents may bring him back in the evening, which is not too bad, or may visit him once a week, and then bring the child back at the age of 2 or 3 years. The mutual rejection of child and parents of each other occurs frequently and if the adults are already prone to child battering, the whole scenario for cruelty to the defenceless child is fully established.