Child abuse before Kempe: an historical literature review

Abstract

This literature review traces the recognition of child abuse and ends where many texts begin with the publication of Henry Kempe's paper in 1962, where the term, "battered child syndrome," was used for the first time. Starting with the first known treatise in pediatrics, the review examines evidence produced throughout the centuries on the recognition of physical child abuse. Many of the references are medical and show how while the early physicians found it easy to accept that those caring for children might injure them, by the end of the 19th century, more obscure diagnoses were being sought to explain the lesions. However, even during the time some physicians were pursuing "scientific" etiologies, there are publications that demonstrate a continuing acknowledgment of the problem of child abuse. No review of this type can claim to be complete, and the author hopes others will be sufficiently interested to seek out further historical references.