Children Forsaken: Child Abuse from Ancient to Modern Times

Abstract

Steven Walker employs a wide lens to argue that modern child abuse exists within a long history of child mistreatment. Indeed, his thesis contends that the ‘ history of humanity is founded on the abuse of children ’ (p.1). A visiting lecturer at Essex, Walker has had an extensive career working in child protec-tion and CAMHS. He also has a wide-ranging publication history with themes varying from Fidel Castro to children ’ s mental health. Detailing over 8000 years of history, this comparatively short book contains nine chapters and the introduction begins in the furthest reaches of history, with child sacrifices in Jericho in 7000BC. It explores many forms of child abuse up to the modern era using numerous examples from many time periods and locations. It also attempts to trace the development of laws protecting children and the provision of education. The second chapter addresses fairy tales, and there is an interesting but short discussion about the therapeutic use of such stories with traumatised children. Chapter three swiftly addresses definitions, causes and the impact of child abuse and this is followed in the fourth chapter with an examination of child abuse becoming a social issue in the mid-20th century. The fifth chapter outlines child labour in the industrial revolution and the sixth focusses on the growing awareness of child sexual abuse in the 1960s. The seventh chapter gives brief examples of current issues including honour killings, modern slavery and images of child abuse. Chapter eight examines the changing perceptions of childhood and the emergence of the academic area of child studies. The final chapter looks at legal action to protect children. The book raises many important points and illustrates them with numerous examples from history. It usefully highlights the influential role of gender in