A Jurisprudential, Legal, and Criminological Analysis of Child Abuse within the Family Environment and Its Distinction from Conventional Child Discipline in Judicial Practice

Abstract

Numerous judicial rulings have condemned parents for child abuse due to the unconventional nature of their actions. The present study aims to examine the punishment of children from jurisprudential, legal, and criminological perspectives, focusing on when such punishment is considered conventional and what causes and factors contribute to the commission of criminal behaviors against children by parents. This descriptive-analytical research demonstrates that corporal punishment is distinct from child abuse, and there must be a precise boundary to differentiate the two. Although parental and guardian discipline under certain conditions is legal and considered a legal justification, all forms of child abuse are criminal, and its commission by parents and guardians is punishable. It is necessary to either revise laws and regulations to define the conventionality and the authority responsible for its determination, or to remove the justification entirely to prevent it from becoming a pretext for child abuse within the family.