Child Abuse in New Zealand

Criminology 212

With reference to children, evaluate the extent and nature of family violence in New Zealand. Also, how might this violence be explained?

New Zealand has recently been ranked number one in the developed world on the global peace index, (Vision Of Humanity, 2010) why, then, has New Zealand also got the third highest ranking for child deaths due to malnutrition in the OECD (OECD, 2009)? The extent of child abuse in New Zealand is terrifying; it is a current issue which needs to be addressed. The only way to start preventing what can only be seen as an escalating issue is to understand its nature as fully as possible, and the reasons or catalysts behind it. This abuse is not limited to physical violence; it extends to neglectful parenting and often occurs outside of the immediate family. To bring the theories behind these occurrences into context I will use the recent cases in New Zealand, which were the deaths of the Kahui twins in 2006 and Nia Glassie in 2007.

In 2006, the child abuse ‘epidemic’ was brought into the public eye by the deaths of infants Cris and Cru Kahui. The two boys were bought to their GP with serious bruising after their mother returned home and discovered the injuries. The doctor ordered immediate hospitalisation, however the parents proceeded to get takeaways and return home for several hours. It was only after this lapse in time that the mother finally took her sons to the hospital (Savage, 2006). The twins died 5 days later of serious head injuries, one had a broken thigh bone and they both had broken ribs prior to the fatal injuries. 2007 brought yet another blow to the face of New Zealand with Nia Glassie’s horrific abuse at the hands of those meant to be closest to her. This ended with her mother’s partner and his brother being found guilty of her murder. Her mother was also found guilty on two counts of man slaughter, and other sentences of child cruelty were handed down. The horrific physical cruelty discovered...