[The shaken baby syndrome as a kind of domestic abuse]

Abstract

In the recent decades research on child abuse has grown impressively. Four types of child abuse: physical, psychological (emotional), sexual, and neglect have been clinically observed and defined. In 1972, John Caffey, a pediatric radiologist, published an article on the theory and practice of the abusive shaking of infants. This was followed, in 1974, with a second article on the whiplash shaken baby syndrome (SBS). Shaken baby syndrome, is caused by the violent shaking of a child with or without contact between the child's head and a hard surface. Such contact may result in head trauma, including subdural hematoma, diffuse axonal injury and retinal hemorrhage. The annual estimated rate of inflicted traumatic brain injury is 30 cases per 100,000 children aged 1 year of younger. Shaken baby syndrome often occurs after shaking in response to crying bouts. In 2001, an estimated 903,000 children were victims of SBS. Additionally, 1300 children were fatally injured from SBS the same year. The ability to detect SBS is difficult secondary to under reporting and misdiagnosis. There is no established set of symptoms that indicate SBS.