子供の放棄

Child abandonment — Grokipedia Fact-checked by Grok 3 months ago Child abandonment Ara Eve Leo Sal 1x Child abandonment is the act of a parent , guardian, or responsible person deserting a child without providing reasonable care, supervision , or support, often exposing the child to immediate risks of harm, neglect , or death if intervention does not occur. [1] [2] In legal terms, it typically involves leaving the child in another's care without provisions for extended periods—such as six months or more—or failing to maintain contact and financial support, which can lead to criminal charges and termination of parental rights in jurisdictions worldwide. [3] [4] This practice, distinct from temporary neglect, stems primarily from parental factors like poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and economic or sociocultural pressures that overwhelm capacity for caregiving, rather than inherent child defects. [5] [6] Empirical studies highlight how such abandonment often arises from pre-birth stressors, including unintended pregnancies and resource scarcity, prompting secretive acts to evade social stigma or legal repercussions. [7] Abandoned children face severe, enduring consequences, including heightened risks of emotional trauma, developmental delays, trust deficits, behavioral disorders, and elevated self-conscious emotions like guilt and shame, which impair learning, relationships, and mental health into adulthood. [8] [9] [7] While historically linked to infanticide or exposure in resource-poor settings, modern responses include safe surrender mechanisms like baby boxes, though abandonment remains underreported and contributes to broader child welfare crises, including institutionalization and foster care entries. [10] [11] Definition and Scope Legal and Conceptual Definitions Child abandonment conceptually refers to the deliberate relinquishment of parental responsibilities toward a minor , involving the desertion of a child without provision for its ongoing care, support, or supervision, often with the intent of permanently severing ties. [1] This act typically encompasses both physical separation—such as leaving an infant in a public place—and emotional or financial withdrawal, where a parent fails to fulfill duties like providing necessities or maintaining contact. [2] Empirical analyses distinguish "open abandonment," where the parent's identity is known and the intent to not return is clear, from anonymous cases, but both undermine the child's fundamental reliance on caregivers for survival and development. [12] Legally, child abandonment constitutes a criminal offense in most jurisdictions, defined as the intentional exposure of a child to harm through desertion without reasonable arrangements for care. [13] In the United States, all states except the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Nebraska have statutes explicitly addressing it, generally requiring proof that a parent, guardian, or custodian left the child without necessary supervision or support, often for a minimum period such as six months. [13] For instance, under California law, it includes leaving a child with a non-parent for at least six months or with the other parent for one year without child support or communication. [4] Oregon's statute criminalizes it as a felony when a responsible party deserts a child under 15, exposing them to risk without intent to return. [14] Penalties range from misdemeanors to felonies, escalating with the child's age, duration of absence, or endangerment level, and may lead to termination of parental rights upon court demonstration of willful intent via conduct or statements. [3] [15] Internationally, child abandonment is prohibited under frameworks emphasizing parental duty, such as Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified 1990), which affirms every child's right to parental care and identity, implicitly condemning desertion as a violation. [16] Many nations classify it as neglect or endangerment rather than a standalone crime; for example, New Mexico law defines it as intentionally leaving a child in circumstances posing unreasonable risk. [17] In Europe, prevention efforts highlight it as severing ties without return intent, with laws varying but uniformly treating it as illegal, often with exceptions for safe surrender mechanisms like anonymous baby boxes to distinguish from prosecutable abandonment. [16] [18] Credible legal sources note that while definitions converge on intent and harm exposure, enforcement depends on jurisdictional specifics, with underreporting in regions lacking explicit statutes. [10] Forms of Child Abandonment Child abandonment primarily manifests in physical and emotional forms, with physical involving the desertion of a child without provision for their immediate care or safety . This often targets infants, who are left in public spaces, refuse sites, or institutions, exposing them to risks of death from hypothermia , starvation , or injury if not promptly rescued. Historical records document exposure as a widespread practice in ancient Greece and Rome , serving as a means for families to offload surplus children onto others or fate, distinct from infanticide by relying on passive rather than active harm. [11] In contemporary settings, physical abandonment of newborns frequently precedes or equates to neonaticide when unsanctioned, with one study of child homicides finding abandonment responsible for 84.9% of neonaticide cases, predominantly involving term infants left in conditions leading to rapid deterioration. [19] Emotional abandonment, by contrast, entails the refusal to offer affection, guidance, or stimulation, irrespective of physical proximity, often overlapping with neglect but centered on psychological divestment. Such rejection can persist chronically, as seen in cases of parental preoccupation with personal issues over child welfare. [7] Legalized mechanisms like safe haven laws represent a regulated form of physical relinquishment, enabling anonymous surrender of unharmed newborns to prevent perilous informal abandonments. Enacted across all U.S. states since the late 1990s and early 2000s, these statutes shield surrendering parents from prosecution for abandonment or neglect when infants are handed over within specified windows—typically 72 hours to 90 days post-birth—at approved sites including hospitals, fire stations, and baby boxes. [20] [21] Globally, similar anonymous surrender options, such as foundling wheels in historical Europe or modern equivalents, aim to channel potential abandonments into survivable pathways, though utilization remains low relative to unreported unsafe acts. [18] Disownment extends abandonment to older dependents, involving the unilateral cessation of support and contact, legally akin to failure to maintain parental duties. [7] Causes and Risk Factors Economic and Demographic Pressures Poverty represents a leading economic driver of child abandonment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where families confront severe resource shortages that preclude basic child provisioning such as food , shelter, and healthcare. Empirical analyses link heightened abandonment incidences to financial insolvency, with parents often relinquishing infants to institutions or public spaces in hopes of better survival odds for the child amid household destitution. For example, qualitative inquiries in Vietnam identify economic hardships as a core precipitant, intertwined with parental profiles marked by low education and unstable employment . Similarly, in Russia , parental refusals of newborns exceeded 5,700 cases in 2013, frequently attributed to economic burdens compounded by child health complications that amplify costs. [6] [22] [23] Economic downturns intensify these dynamics, correlating with spikes in abandonment as unemployment and income erosion erode familial capacity to sustain dependents. Research on infanticide and abandonment patterns demonstrates that economic inequality and recessions elevate risks, with low-socioeconomic-status households exhibiting disproportionate vulnerability due to diminished coping reserves. In developing contexts, such crises prompt strategic decisions to abandon, as the marginal expense of rearing an additional child surpasses perceived benefits under constrained conditions. Interventions like breastfeeding promotion in resource-scarce settings have yielded measurable declines, such as a 34% drop in abandonment rates post-implementation in one hospital cohort, underscoring how bolstering economic supports can mitigate incidence. [24] [25] [26] Demographic pressures amplify economic strains, as elevated fertility rates and rapid population expansion in impoverished regions outpace resource availability, fostering environments where families cannot viably support all offspring . High birth rates—averaging over four children per woman in many sub-Saharan African nations—interact with stagnant wages and agricultural limits to heighten abandonment probabilities, particularly for higher-parity or female children deemed less contributory to household labor. This dynamic manifests in skewed resource allocation , where parents selectively invest in fewer viable dependents amid overpopulation relative to economic output, perpetuating cycles of institutionalization over outright orphanhood. Globally, 3 to 9 million children reside in institutions, the majority not true orphans but products of parental economic-demographic overload rather than parental demise. [27] [28] Psychological and Behavioral Factors Parental mental illnesses, including postpartum depression and broader mood disorders, constitute significant psychological risk factors for child abandonment, as they often disrupt bonding and caregiving capacities in the early postnatal period. Postnatal depression, in particular, has been identified as a primary driver, with affected mothers experiencing overwh