Evil, Child Abuse and the Caring Professions.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Ethics

Background:

• Professional discourses often avoid the concept of evil when discussing child abuse.
• Public perception frequently frames child abuse as inherently evil.
• Therapists and social workers grapple with conceptualizing child abuse, sometimes using moral or metaphysical frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the invocation of the concept of evil in relation to child abuse.
• To analyze how professional, public, and therapeutic discourses frame child abuse through the lens of evil.
• To critically evaluate the utility of moral and metaphysical evil concepts in professional contexts.

Main Methods:

• Juxtaposition of professional and public discourses on child abuse and evil.
• Discussion of therapeutic work with perpetrators and survivors in the USA.
• Analysis of case studies on Satanic abuse and spirit possession in the UK.
• Critical appraisal of referencing moral and metaphysical evil in professional discourse.

Main Results:

• Therapists in the USA frame child abuse causes/consequences as moral evil.
• UK social workers and religious groups interpret child abuse through metaphysical evil (Satanic abuse, spirit possession).
• Professional discourses often eschew the concept of evil, contrasting with public outrage.

Conclusions:

• Referencing moral and metaphysical evil in professional discourse has limitations.
• A mythical-metaphorical conception of evil offers a more flexible and potentially fruitful therapeutic resource for child abuse cases.