Media and professional discourses on child maltreatment: implications for child protection in mainland China

Abstract

The main research question asked in this study was: how is the problem of child maltreatment understood and constructed by stakeholders at the local level in China? The data collection was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the dominant and competing discourses on the problem of child maltreatment in the media were explored in mainland China. The objectives in the first phase were: (1) Explore trends in discussion of child maltreatment in the media; (2) Identify dominant and competing discourses and explore how the problem of child maltreatment is framed in mainstream newspapers. (3) Identify the dominant discourses of professionals in the media. In the second phase, the perceptions of professionals of media discourses, the concept of childhood, and the problem of child maltreatment were examined. The objectives in the second phase were: (1) Explore the perceptions of professionals of childhood and the problem of child maltreatment; (2) Examine the views of professionals on dominant and competing discourses and salient cases in the media. This study used theoretical sampling and snowball sampling to recruit participants, including 6 social workers, 5 doctors, 3 judges, 2 police officers, and 2 lawyers. This study used discourse analysis as a data analysis method. The various findings of this study are the following: (1) There are individualisation, medicalisation, and legalisation of child abuse in mainland China; (2) There are interaction and conflict between traditional Chinese culture and foreign experience in the discourses of childhood and child maltreatment; and (3) The children's voices are absent in media and professional discourses. The first two findings reflect the influence of Western culture and thought on the problem of child maltreatment in mainland China. Regarding the individualisation and medicalisation of child abuse, child abuse was originally defined as the battered child syndrome, a medical problem. The medicalisation of child abuse was illustrated by media analysis and the perceptions of child abuse. Regarding the legalization of child abuse, the results reflect that solving the problem of child abuse using the law has become a dominant discourse of child abuse, with a significant influence on the media and the perceptions of professionals. Thirdly, although traditional Chinese culture is a dominant discourse, foreign experience affects traditional Chinese culture. The last important finding is the absence of children's voices in the news reports and the interviews. In the news reports, the stakeholders interviewed by the journalists were professionals, who did not mention children's voices. Similarly, the interviewees rarely mentioned children's thoughts and needs. Based on these findings, this study discussed: (1) How individualism and familism influenced the perceptions of child abuse in China; (2) How globalization and modernisation influenced the perceptions of child abuse in China; (3) The importance of regarding children as agents; (4) The importance of protecting children's rights. Based on the findings and discussion, this study proposed the following recommendations. First, promoting child protection legislation. Second, prohibiting physical abuse. Third, adopting systematic solutions to the problem of child abuse. Forth, protecting children's rights.