The Global Victimization of Children - Problems and Solutions

This book describes the concept of child victimization in all its facets. Millions of young people throughout the world face violence, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and exploitation on a daily basis. The worldwide victimization of young people can be prevented, or, at least, its incidence can be greatly reduced, if purposeful action is taken to do so. This volume researches and documents some of the ways in which young people throughout the world are victimized, and suggests strategies for preventing various forms of child vistimization. Eight distinct forms of victimization are identified and analyzed in detail. Included are discussions on child prostitution and pornography, economic exploitation through child labor and trafficking, physical and other abuse inflicted on young people in schools and other institutions, the use of children as armed combatants, and the denial of the basic needs and rights of children to such things as home and to education. In each chapter the authors discuss the nature of the victimization, its global dimensions and prevalence, and the measures governments and/or others are taking, or failing to take, to combat the harm based on the concept that youth victimization is a form of government crime.

List of contents

Chapter 1: Introduction The ProblemVarieties of VictimizationChild Victimization as a CrimeAddressing the Problem Chapter 2: Child Labor Why Children WorkExtent & PrevalenceChildren's Work: Issues in Child LaborThe Victimization of Children Who WorkThe LawEliminating Child LaborConclusion Chapter 3: Abandoned Children and Street Children Definition of TermsPrevalenceThe Children Behind the NumbersSurviving the StreetsSocial NetworksStreet Children as VictimsAddressing the ProblemConclusion Chapter 4: Child Soldiers Definition of a Child Soldier The Law Extent and PrevalenceNature of VictimizationHow Children Become Child SoldiersAddressing the ProblemConclusion Chapter 5: Trafficking Definition of "Child Trafficking"Form of TraffickingPrevalenceCauses of TraffickingVictims and VictimizersRecruiting and Controlling VictimsHealth HazardsLawsPrevention and HelpConclusion Chapter 6: Child Pornography The ProblemPrevalenceThe Role of the InternetOffendersVictimsLaws Against Child PornographyDealing With the Problem and PreventionConclusion Chapter 7: Institutional Absuse DefinitionSchoolsOrphanages and Residential CareDetention and Correctional InstitutionsStopping Institutional VictimizationConclusion Chapter 8: Denial of Education Education is EssentialPrevalenceBarriers to EducationIssues in Educating the YoungThe Color of (Ill-Spent) MoneyGender and Education: The Case of GirlsPower of Social StratificationInternational Laws and InitiativesAchieving 'Universal Education'Conclusion Chapter 9: Peer Victimization Definining TermsCounting Peer Victimization Victims and VictimizersThe Harm Kids Can DoConditions Conducive to Peer VicitimizationPreventionConclusion Chapter 10: Fighting Child Victimization At the Individual LevelAt the Organizational LevelSystemic ApproachesConcluding Thoughts

About the author

Professor Clayton Hartjen, PhD, is a sociologist/ anthropologist with a special interest in juvenile delinquency. Professor Hartjen teaches courses in corrections and criminal justice at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Hartjen's expertise is in international and comparative criminology, with special emphasis on juvenile delinquency, criminological theory and corrections and social control. This includes comparative analysis of delinquency laws and corrections/judicial systems, as well as cross-national patterns of delinquent behavior. Clayton Hartjen received his Ph.D. from New York University.
Dr. S. Priyadarsini, PhD, who also teaches at Rutgers University, has completed a large scale survey of all publications on youth crime and juvenile justice published around the world over the past quarter century. She has conducted research on delinquency and juvenile justice in India and France. She is currently continuing analyses of information obtained from this research and completing a study of Indian women at the turn of the Twentieth Century. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Rutgers University.

Summary

​ This book describes the concept of child victimization in all its facets. Millions of young people throughout the world face violence, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and exploitation on a daily basis.  The worldwide victimization of young people can be prevented, or, at least, its incidence can be greatly reduced, if purposeful action is taken to do so.  This volume researches and documents some of the ways in which young people throughout the world are victimized, and suggests strategies for preventing various forms of child vistimization. Eight distinct forms of victimization are identified and analyzed in detail.  Included are discussions on child prostitution and pornography, economic exploitation through child labor and trafficking, physical and other abuse inflicted on young people in schools and other institutions, the use of children as armed combatants, and the denial of the basic needs and rights of children to such things as  home and to education. In each chapter the authors discuss the nature of the victimization, its global dimensions and prevalence, and the measures governments and/or others are taking, or failing to take, to combat the harm based on the concept that youth victimization is a form of government crime.

Additional text

From the book reviews:
“The Global Victimization of Children is an introductory text on a range of worldwide child-specific social problems. … it has fulfilled its purpose of informing and motivating readers to work to reduce, prevent, and even eradicate problems. It will serve as a convenient one-stop introduction to major issues related to children and youth around the world for beginner students in fields of childhood and youth studies, as well as for policy-makers and activists.” (Xiaobei Chen, Asian Criminology, Vol. 9, 2014)

Report

From the book reviews:
"The Global Victimization of Children is an introductory text on a range of worldwide child-specific social problems. ... it has fulfilled its purpose of informing and motivating readers to work to reduce, prevent, and even eradicate problems. It will serve as a convenient one-stop introduction to major issues related to children and youth around the world for beginner students in fields of childhood and youth studies, as well as for policy-makers and activists." (Xiaobei Chen, Asian Criminology, Vol. 9, 2014)

Product details

• Authors: Clayton Hartjen, Clayton A Hartjen, Clayton A. Hartjen, S Priyadarsini, S. Priyadarsini
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.02.2012
• EAN: 9781461421788
• ISBN: 978-1-4614-2178-8
• No. of pages: 402
• Dimensions: 168 mm x 28 mm x 243 mm
• Weight: 750 g
• Illustrations: XIV, 402 p.
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > Criminal law, criminal procedural law, criminology; B, Criminology, Social Policy, biotechnology, Personal & public health, Social Sciences, Social & ethical issues, Social Work, Political Economy, Criminology and Criminal Justice, general, Maternal and child health services, Maternal and Child Health, Materno-fetal medicine