Child abuse: a universal 'diagnostic' category? The implication of culture in definition and assessment

The professionalisation of the care and protection of children in the West has resulted from a complex of events that are particular to Europe, and that reflect Western cultural beliefs about the self, subjective experience and interpersonal connections. Attempts to universalise Western definitions of 'child abuse' fail to take into account the cultural and social realities of 'non-Western' children and families. Clinical material is presented from two South Asian families in Britain, and attributions of meaning by Western professionals and the South Asian family are discussed.