1.1 Introduction
Child abuse is called cruelty to children; the willful infliction of pain and suffering on children through physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment. Prior to the term, child abuse normally referred to only physical mistreatment but since then, its application has expanded to include, in addition to inordinate physical violence, unjustifiable verbal abuse, the failure to furnish proper shelter, nourishment, medical treatment or emotional support. Child abuse can also be seen as the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way. Child abuse is also any illness, impairment or abnormal condition that affects primarily infants and children e.g. those in the age span that begins with the fetus and extends through adolescence.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
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