UNAIR NEWS – It is widely known that every human being has the right to an adequate standard of living, including a child. In fact, the United Nations (UN) convention on the Rights of the Child emphasizes that every child has the right to receive adequate support for their development in terms of physical, moral, mental, social and spiritual aspects.
It inspired Ferry Efendi, S.Kep., Ns., M.Sc., Ph.D., and his team to conduct a study on the phenomenon of child neglect that causes adverse effects, such as problems of cognitive, social and emotional development, narcotics use, self-injury, lower social life abilities, psychological and neurological problems, child neglect to their own children and the potential for revenge on people who ignore them.
“Child neglect is a complex social problem,” said the lecturer known as Ferry.
For him, the phenomenon of child neglect is a multidimensional problem. The cause cannot be seen solely based on individual characteristics, but must also consider the effects of their households. He also explained that understanding the risk factors of child neglect in Indonesia is important.
“The knowledge about these risk factors is useful to prevent and reduce the incidence of child neglect in this country,” he said.
Furthermore, the results of the study showed that neglected Indonesian children were still commonly found. All individual level variables, he explained, in the study were significant, such as the sex of the child, death of one or both parents, the age of the child, the presence of other neglected children in the household, and the child’s disability.
“All significant variables are in line with previous studies. However, there is one variable that has the greatest influence on the likelihood of child neglect in Indonesia, the presence of other neglected children in the household. One neglected child has become a problem, there will be more problems if there are more than one in the household, “he explained.
In the end, Ferry emphasized that the determining factors of child neglect are very complex and a multi-party approach is needed to look after and prevent child neglect. Policies in Indonesia, he said, must be directed to improve household welfare and create special interventions to identify and help vulnerable children in the community.
Author: Nuri Hermawan
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
Full article available at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740919304517
Berliana, Sarni Maniar, Ariani Wulan Augustia, Praba Diyan Rachmawati, Retnayu Pradanie, Ferry Efendi, and Gading Ekapuja Aurizki. “Factors associated with child neglect in Indonesia: Findings from National Socio-Economic Survey.” Children and Youth Services Review (2019): 104487.
