Objectives: The objectives of this study are 1) To study the epidemiology and geographical distribution of child abuse in Hong Kong. 2) To study the district differences in co-morbidities of child abuse. Methods: Children under 19 years old with diagnostic codes for child abuse and child maltreatment from 1st January 2001 to 31st December 2010 were retrieved from Hospital Authority database. Demographics, hospital admission data and co-morbidities diagnosis were retrieved. The data were further analyzed according to districts of Hong Kong. Results: A total of 8055 episodes of child abuse were retrieved. 4241 (52.7%) were female and 3814 (47.3%) were male. There was a significant increasing trend of child abuse steadily in the whole territory over the study period. There were significant differences in the number of child abuse cases among different districts (p = 0.0038). Yuen Long, followed by Tuen Mun, constituted the highest numbers of child abuse cases, with 970 cases (12%) and 896 cases (11.1%) identified respectively. The mean age of onset of child abuse was 8.5 years old, while the mean number of hospital admission was 2.3 episodes during the study period. For length of hospital stay, the overall mean was 6.5 days. There was no significant difference among the clusters. The overall rate of suicidal attempt was 1.6%. The rate of suicidal attempt in New Territory west cluster (2.5%) was 2.8 times of that of Hong Kong west cluster (0.9%) (p<0.0001). The number of injury diagnosis, mental health problem, developmental delay, behavioral problem, antisocial or conduct problem, were also significantly different among different clusters. (p<0.05). Conclusion: There was a significant increasing trend of child abuse in the past decade in Hong Kong. In addition, the present study demonstrated a significant geographical variation in the number of child abuse cases as well as their associated co-morbidities. The identification of areas with higher rates of child abuse and associated co-morbidities poses important implication on service planning and policy making. / published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Children are among the most vulnerable to violence. A global problem, child victimization has been extensively studied in the context of public health research. As negative consequences of victimization are demonstrated, estimation of its prevalence and identification of its risk factors are two major concerns of researchers. Intimate partner violence (IPV), a worldwide prevalent family problem in itself, is directly or indirectly demonstrated in association with risk of different child victimizations. However, majority of previous studies on child victimization were fragmented into clusters that center on specific forms of victimization, primarily those involving conventional crime, maltreatment, peer and sibling abuse, sexual violence, and witnessing of violence. Efforts for assessing complete pattern of victimization in children emerged only in recent years. Nevertheless, this initial development that has clear research gaps is far from being enough. In such a context, the present study was conducted, in a comprehensive perspective, to uncover pattern and prevalence, and to identify risk factors of child victimization in the Chinese context. IPV was particularly examined on its relationship with child victimization. The ecological theory and family systems theory were integrated to build the conceptual research framework, a family-based ecological model comprising levels of individual, family, community, and social culture. This study adopts a quantitative approach. Questionnaire survey was successfully conducted among 953 parents of children aged 0-17 years old in Wuhan, China. The respondents were identified through a four-stage stratified sampling method. For the sake of ethical consideration and research requirement, child victimization cases were reported by the parents. The Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) was employed for measuring child victimization. Approximately one in two children was reported having victimization. Of these victims, the proportion of those who suffered from two or more types of victimization was as high as half; children whose parents reported IPV accounted for one-third. Through multiple logistic regression analyses, the hypothesis that prior victimization can increase the risk of other victimizations was confirmed. A series of factors in the ecological model, including IPV, were identified to have association with child victimization. All the ecological factors were further examined using a structured multiphase logistic regression analysis. The results of two regression models were compared. The factors identified to be associated with the risk of child victimization involve all four levels of the ecological model. The finding suggests that occurrence of child victimization and IPV are associated and share common risk factors in the family-based ecological system. The findings emphasize the necessity of a comprehensive screening for child victimization, and highlight cooperation between services for partners and for children. The implications also include the application of family-based ecological perspective in research, and the formulation of family-based systematic prevention policies on child victimization and related family problems. In general, the reexamination of the ecological theory with emphasis on family in this study promotes the theoretical indigenization in China. The research findings contribute to the scientific database on child victimization and provide valuable implications for policies and practice of child protection. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Zhu, Yuhong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-142). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendix 2-3 in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES --- p.vi / Chapter CHAPTER ONE: --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Physical child abuse outside China --- p.2 / The situation in mainland China --- p.4 / Definition of terms --- p.10 / Statement of purpose --- p.11 / Research questions --- p.13 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO: --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.14 / Physical child abuse and help-seeking in the West --- p.14 / Physical child abuse and help-seeking in China --- p.26 / Limitations of existing literature --- p.32 / Summary --- p.33 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE: --- CONCEPTUAL FRAMWORK --- p.34 / Conceptual framework of this study --- p.34 / Summary --- p.40 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR: --- METHODOLOGY --- p.41 / The choice of qualitative research --- p.41 / Data collection --- p.43 / Data analysis --- p.46 / Credibility --- p.47 / Ethical concerns --- p.49 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE: --- PROFILES OF PARTICIPANTS --- p.51 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX: --- THE NINE STORIES --- p.57 / Jia Jia --- p.57 / Xiao Wen --- p.60 / A' Jian --- p.63 / Qin Qin --- p.67 / Le Le --- p.70 / Xiao Jie --- p.73 / Xiao Ming --- p.77 / Xiao Lei --- p.80 / Liang Liang --- p.84 / Chapter CHAPTER SEVEN: --- FIVE THEMES OF PERCEPTIONS --- p.88 / Common themes of perceptions of parental physical abuse --- p.88 / Summary --- p.100 / Chapter CHAPTER EIGHT: --- IMPEDIENTS TO HELP-SEEKING --- p.102 / Reasons for not seeking help --- p.103 / Summary --- p.110 / Chapter CHAPTER NINE: --- DISCUSSION --- p.112 / Parental physical abuse as ´بloving punishment' --- p.112 / Salient barriers to seeking help --- p.115 / Possible strengths and contributions --- p.120 / Limitations of this study --- p.122 / Implications of findings --- p.123 / REFERENCES --- p.129 / APPENDIX --- p.143 / Appendix 1: Interview Guidelines (English Version) --- p.143 / Appendix 2: Interview Guidelines (Chinese Version) --- p.144 / Appendix 3: Letter to school (Chinese Version) --- p.145

文玉清. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2004. / 附參考文獻. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in English. / Wen Yuqing. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2004. / Fu can kao wen xian.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences