Child Physical Abuse

Kenny was placed in foster care because his community’s Department of Child Protective Services (CPS) determined that his family was “in conflict.” The placement was made after 10-year-old Kenny was seen at the local hospital’s emergency room for bruises, welts, and cuts on his back. According to his mother’s report to emergency room personnel, the boy “fell off of his Razor” (scooter) while riding down a hill near the family home. Kenny was very quiet during the visit, never speaking but occasionally nodding his head in affirmation of his mother’s report. The attending physician, however, believed that Kenny’s injuries were unlikely to have occurred as the result of such a fall. Rather, they appeared consistent with the kinds of injuries a child might have from being slapped repeatedly or possibly whipped with a belt. Initially, Kenny’s mother persisted in her story that Kenny had fallen from his Razor, but after the doctor told her that the injuries could not have resulted from such an accident, she confessed that her boyfriend of several years, Sam, had some strong opinions about how children should behave and how they should be disciplined. She reported that Sam had a “short temper” when it came to difficult behavior in children and that he sometimes “lost his cool” in disciplining Kenny. She also suggested that Kenny’s behavior could often be very difficult to control. She said that Kenny had numerous problems, including difficulties in school (e.g., trouble with reading) and with peers (e.g., physically fighting with other children); she described both acting-out behaviors (e.g., setting fire to objects, torturing and killing small animals, stealing) and oppositional behaviors (e.g., skipping school, refusing to do homework, breaking curfew, being noncompliant with requests). In interviews with a CPS worker, Kenny revealed that he was, in fact, experiencing physical abuse inflicted by his mother’s boyfriend. Kenny reluctantly acknowledged that Sam frequently disciplined him by repeatedly slapping a belt across his back. He also talked about an incident when he had been trying to teach the ducks to “swim underwater.” When Sam saw Kenny