No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Child abuse and neglect in Japan: Coin-operated-locker babies
Abstract
The coin-operated-locker baby is a type of child abuse that may be unique to Japan. The term refers to newborns who are placed, while alive or dead, in coin-operated lockers. This practice has been decreased by specific measures. It is likely that social and economic variables in Japan account for differences in the frequency and types of child abuse cases when compared to American or European societies as social conditions in Japan change the reported incidence of child abuse may increase in the future. Recently, the government of Osaka organized a group specifically designed to deal with the detection and protection of abused and neglected children. In 1993, they published a manual on how to deal with child abuse, but the Japanese judicial administration still uses old laws for abuse cases. The development of new laws is occurring in parts of the country now. This paper introduces the present status of coping with child abuse and neglect in Japan.
... Furthermore, in many societies, children have been subjected to harm or death when they were regarded as an excessive burden or when their parents lacked the necessary resources to provide for their upbringing. For example, in poor regions of Japan where it was difficult to raise more than one or two children, infanticide or abandonment was culturally sanctioned and, consequently, employed as a method of birth control [45]. ...
Intrafamilial child/adolescent homicide is the murder of a child/adolescent by one or more family members. This study delves into the medical and sociological consequences of child homicide, shedding light on the broader impact beyond individual families, which extends into the local community. Two Internet search engines and the search engines of major national news websites were surveyed to identify the number of intrafamilial child/adolescent homicide cases that occurred in Greece from January 2010 to December 2020. Over the study period, 34 victims of intrafamilial child/adolescent homicides were identified. The above deaths reflect an intrafamilial child/adolescent homicide rate of 0.15 homicides per year per 100,000 inhabitants. Most of the perpetrators (51.4%) were male, and the victims were equally divided into males and females. The ages of the perpetrators ranged from 13 to 61 years, and the ages of the victims ranged between 0 and 17 years. Most perpetrators (54.5%) had a previous psychiatric history and in many cases, they committed (33.3%) or attempted (15.2%) suicide after the homicide. The most common method of homicide was strangulation (usually combined with suffocation) (25%), followed by abandonment (15.6%). The most commonly reported motives were spousal revenge (26.5%) and psychotic disorders (26.5%). Raising awareness for intrafamilial child and adolescent homicide is of the utmost importance for the prevention of this dreadful phenomenon.
... Historically, children were considered disposable. Infanticide was practiced due to economic hardships, such as famine and heavy tax burdens in rural communities, until the feudal society ended with the Meiji restoration in 1867 (Kouno & Johnson, 1995). The aforementioned "coin-locker babies" phenomenon is a modern version of disposing of unwanted newborns. ...
Traditionally, domestic violence in Japan referred to children’s physical and emotional violence against their parents. However, in recent years, the general public’s awareness of and actions toward other types of domestic violence, especially violence against women and children, has increased. Following a brief description of filial violence and elderly abuse, both spousal abuse and child abuse are discussed in terms of their prevalence and cultural and historical backgrounds. The article concludes with current and future challenges in the intervention of violence, particularly against women and children, in the Japanese family.
... Th is includes examples over a broad spectrum from the severe methods that try to change the behaviour of children using violence under the name of upbringing, to shocking behaviours such asparents leaving their children in cash or coin-operated lockers when they have errands to do in public places. 5 Such examples of the fact that such an unpleasant and unacceptable situation as child neglect and abuse (CNaA) is usually done by those closest to the child give us clues about how diffi cult it is to identify them and therefore eliminate the associated negative eff ects and traumas. 6 Because of the fact that the applicable law requires notifi cation when signs ofCNaA are detected, it has been reported that members of professional groups such as health workers, social workers, educators, etc,have begun to be more careful and attentive in this regard. ...
... For example, the pattern of neonaticide is recognised internationally. However, the mechanism of death varies according to the cultural context and includes infants being thrown from high-rise buildings in Hong Kong (Cheung, 1986), being placed in the woods in winter in Sweden (Somander & Rammer, 1991), being placed in a locker ('coin-operated locker babies') in Japan (Kouno & Johnson, 1995), and being placed in the swamp in Fiji (Adinkrah, 2000). Although variations in the method of death exist, the fatal assault type of neonaticide is recognised in these different contexts. ...
Fatal child assault, the deaths of children caused by the violent actions of another person, is the subject of this article. It is argued that the definition of the problem, its size and scope, is dependent on administrative social and legal categories. These phenomena encompass a range of situations. Although a child dies from violence in each incident, the social context within which these incidents occur is diverse. A typology of child fatal assaults is developed based on the research literature. Diverse explanatory theories have been offered to account for the problem of fatal assault of children. These paradigms concentrate on different aspects of the problem including the perpetrator (and their mental state or gender), the incident itself, and the social context of the incident (familial or not). It is argued that conceptualisation of the problem and the assumptions in the accompanying paradigm must be made explicit before discussion of this social problem can begin.
Modern poetics imposed the image of Nietzsche’s split Subject, with the disaggregated self-emerging as dilemmatic subjectivity and its aesthetic culmination in the “dehumanisation of art.” Nietzsche’s philosophy provided postmodern poetics with the Subject as “fiction,” subjected to a complex process of self-multiplication and self-reflection (Ihab Hassan). The loss of the autonomy of the Subject as a “fashionable theme” (Frederic Jameson), combined with its multiplication into simulacra (Jean Baudrillard) and the abolition of reference, allow the Object to storm the places of its absence. The multiplicitous nature under which the image of subjectivity is formed is a possible solution for the issue of the Subject. Another solution would be inflicting violence upon the Subject, replaced by the corporeality of the Object, by the body, to the point of its destruction, or to the ultimate point of abjectness. My essay will use Murakami Ryū’s novel Coin Locker Babies to examine its author’s views on the Object-Subject relation, on the Subject as an Object (corporeality) and on the forms through which the Object inflicts violence upon the Subject.
Background
Neonaticide is the murder of a newborn baby within 24 hours of birth. It has been reported in various countries, but there has been little recent research on the current state of neonaticide in Japan.
Aim
To elucidate the epidemiological features of neonaticide in Japan using public long-term, population-based data collected over 14 years and 9 months from July 2003 to March 2018.
Methods
A descriptive analysis of public data from 2003 to the present was conducted related to deaths which had been retrospectively investigated and deemed by the authorities to be caused by child abuse or neglect.
Results
Between July 2003 and March 2018, there were 149 cases of ‘known’ neonaticide in Japan and the incidence was 0.96/100,000 live births. The majority of perpetrators were mothers, accounting for 135 (91%) of cases, and in 70 (48%) cases they were young mothers under the age of 25. None of the infants was delivered in a medical facility. Nine (6%) murders were committed by both parents together and only one (1%) by the father alone.
Conclusion
The number of births in Japan has been declining gradually but the rate of neonaticide is the same.
This chapter delves into family explanations, starting with types of family violence—filial violence, intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, filicide and elderly abuse—and then family risk factors for later offending. There are six types of family risk factors that have been identified, and we look at the relevance of these in light of the findings from Japan. One type of risk factor that has not been studied in Japan is family criminality, or the intergenerational transmission of crime. A primary challenge in effectively addressing family violence is societal perceptions of the family and women.
The main goal of this study was to analyze the information available on homicides of children younger than five years of age in Mexico. Mexican databases on mortality of the last ten years, referring to the time of initiating the study, were used (1992-2001). Results indicate that the homicide rate in the childhood decreased by 38 percent during the analyzed period; even so, the infanticide rate in 2001 (3.81 per 100 000) and the homicide rate in children aged 1 to 4 years (1.37 per 100 000) are among the highest, when compared to the ones of western countries, except the United States; invariably, homicides of boys were more frequent than the ones girl (the ratio boys/ girls was 1.13 in 2001). Standing out is the fact that, throughout the period, at least 45 percent of all homicides of children of 0 to 4 years were registered in Mexico State.
The first book-length study of adoption in Japan, this impressive work tackles the innovative and sometimes controversial subject of the policies of adoption agencies in Japan. The book places special adoption in the context of a liberal reformist agenda that has challenged traditional concepts of the family through the efforts to place children with difficult family backgrounds, including mixed and minority ethnic backgrounds. Drawing on empirical source material gathered since the late 1980s, the authors consider the central policy issue of whether agencies should be given a free hand to create their own policies, or whether they should be more tightly regulated. Finally, the book analyzes how different agency strategies for finding homes for hard to place children are related to different assumptions about the psychology and reasoning of prospective parents. Adoption in Japan makes a significant contribution to the academic literature in the fields of Japanese studies, public policy, social work and sociology. It will also be of interest to professionals involved in adoption agencies, specialist social work and adoption panels.
In the early 1970s Japan witnessed the emergence of a new women’s liberation movement that put forward an unprecedented gendered critique of Japanese post-war society. Known as ūman ribu (woman lib) or simply ribu (lib), this movement appeared at a historical time when the numerical increase in cases of mothers who killed their own children prompted the news media to describe maternal filicide as a dramatic social phenomenon. This article explores ribu’s engagement with the increased public visibility of mothers who kill. It contends that the solidarity and support the movement demonstrated for these criminalised mothers radically challenged idealised notions of motherhood, maternal love and the sanctity of the mother–child bond, and deeply questioned the post-war nuclear family as the cornerstone of society. The article investigates the revolutionary potential of ribu’s preoccupation with murderous mothers by framing it in the context of the movement’s call for consciousness transformation and for the pursuance of a more genuine relationality, and it gestures towards an understanding of what might be at stake in reading maternal filicide through the interpretative grid of a revolutionary agenda.
UNICEF is developing indicators to measure the compliance of signatory states with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989. This article explains the role of international indicators in relation to the reporting process integral to the Convention. It then discusses the possibility of developing an indicator to measure child maltreatment globally. Practical and definitional obstacles are considered and measures suggested by other authors, including the rate of child homicide, are critically considered. The article concludes that at present there is no valid measure that allows child maltreatment to be measured globally but that a number of positive steps can be taken to promote awareness and measurement of child maltreatment internationally and these are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Few cases of child abuse are identified by child care agencies in Japan. Some argue that this is because the culturally specific child care and family relations in Japan make child maltreatment less likely to occur. On the other hand, there are also cultural features that might act to increase the likelihood of child abuse. Explanations for seeming differences in prevalence are discussed, along with a consideration of differences in concepts of appropriate care, child maltreatment, thresholds for case definition, and levels of public and professional awareness about child abuse. Service responses and current developments in child abuse in Japan are also briefly reviewed.
This article explores the phenomenon of neonaticide, the murder of an infant during the first day of life. Characteristics of maternal neonaticide offenders in industrialized countries were identified based on a systematic literature review. Neonaticides were most often committed by poor, relatively young, single women who lacked prenatal care. Efforts to better prevent these tragedies should include improved sex education and contraceptive access. Two legal responses to the problem of neonaticide, Safe Haven laws utilized in the United States, and anonymous birth options in Europe are discussed.
Filicide is the term denoting murder of a child by one of his (her) parents. The authors analysed the autopsic material of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade related to a sixty-year period (1920-1980) and found 26 cases of filicide. On the basis of this finding, the authors concluded that filicide was not very frequent in this area. The motives of filicide were as follows: conflict between parents, child's disease or anomaly, illegitimate child, social and economic problems, parents' mental disorders. The murderer of a child was mother in 15 cases and father in 11 cases. Thus, mother was more frequently murderer than the father (15:11). However, these data are not in accordance with data from literature where mother is emphasized as "almost the only" murderer of her child.
Selected topics of violence against children and adolescents that occur in countries outside of the United States are discussed. Focus is given to middle-income and low-income countries and emphasis is placed on the epidemiology of this pressing public health problem, particularly on conditions that are peculiar to children and adolescents in international settings, such as female genital mutilations, wars, displacements, and land mines. The discussion of child maltreatment is presented in the context of child rearing and discipline in different cultures. Recommendations for action and violence prevention are offered in the light of vast cultural differences.
PIP
This article reviews the literature on various aspects of violence against children and adolescents in middle- and low-income countries to reveal the epidemiology and public health consequences and offer recommendations. The first section of the article, on the maltreatment of children, considers how child rearing, discipline, and punishment practices differ in different cultures and then focuses on 1) child maltreatment by intentional injuries such as culturally sanctioned burning and cutting and 2) infanticide. The chapter continues with a look at studies of the epidemiology of child sexual abuse and at the practice of female genital mutilation. The next topics examined are child and adolescent homicide and assault and adolescent suicide, all of which are shown to be on the increase. Finally, the effects of wars, displacement, and ethnic cleansing as well as of land mines and other unexploded lethal weapons are reviewed. It is concluded that health practitioners should oppose all forms of violence and should apply a public health, population-level approach to efforts to prevent and control violence. Health practitioners should espouse the view that the safety of each child and adolescent is the responsibility of all.
Traditionally, domestic violence in Japan referred to children's physical and emotional violence against their parents. However, in recent years, the general public's awareness of and actions toward other types of domestic violence, especially violence against women and children, has increased. Following a brief description of filial violence and elderly abuse, both spousal abuse and child abuse are discussed in terms of their prevalence and cultural and historical backgrounds. The article concludes with current and future challenges in the intervention of violence, particularly against women and children, in the Japanese family.
The study was commissioned by the Welsh Office to pull together lessons from all reports on cases involving either a child abuse fatality or serious child protection concern ("Part 8 Reviews") since the introduction of the Children Act 1989.
Twenty-one such reports were identified and subjected to a content analysis to extract practice issues.
From 19 reports (excluding Reviews concerning adult sexual abusers), the authors identify seven practice themes emerging from that analysis which are related to those identified in previous studies and to six previously undertaken British overviews of child abuse fatalities. The themes are assessment, interagency communications, responsibility, number of professionals involved, role of general practitioners, insufficient training for pediatricians/radiologists, and parental choice.
British child protection agencies are attempting to address apparently conflicting policy objectives. On the one hand they are required to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable children within the child protection system. At the same time they are also being encouraged to adopt a "lighter touch" in child protection work. The authors conclude that the seven themes may provide some indicators as to how these conflicting objectives may be reconciled.
The influence of repeated hypoxia on the development of haemoglobin (Hb) subtypes and on extramedullary haematopoiesis (EMH) was investigated in young Wistar rats of different ages. The rats were exposed to hypercapnic/hypoxic and to "simple" hypoxic conditions. The results obtained were compared to those of an untreated age-matched control group. Different globin chains were measured using HPLC and time-of-flight (TOF) mass analysis. The number of EMH cells was evaluated by cell counting. By determining the proportions of alpha- and beta-chains, fetal, neonatal and mature types of globin chain composition could be differentiated. The beta-2 chain levels were significantly higher in hypercapnic/hypoxic environments than in the controls and simple hypoxic environments. The numbers of EMH cells in the two groups subjected to hypercapnia/hypoxia decreased significantly more slowly compared to the controls and simple hypoxia groups. Therefore, the development of Hb subtypes and the EMH activity in rats were influenced by both repeated hypercapnia and hypoxia.
Child neglect results from either acts of omission or of commission. Fatalities from neglect account for 30% to 40% of deaths caused by child maltreatment. Deaths may occur from failure to provide the basic needs of infancy such as food or medical care. Medical care may also be withheld because of parental religious beliefs. Inadequate supervision may contribute to a child's injury or death through adverse events involving drowning, fires, and firearms. Recognizing the factors contributing to a child's death is facilitated by the action of multidisciplinary child death review teams. As with other forms of child maltreatment, prevention and early intervention strategies are needed to minimize the risk of injury and death to children.
The investigation Comittee of the Medico-Legal Society of Japan distributed questionnaires relating to 3 subjects: (1) autopsy cases of battered children, (2) additional opinions of other experts and (3) autopsy cases of therapeutic complications, for the period 1968-1977. The results were as follows. Among 40 institutions 185 autopsy cases of battered children were reported. The number of cases per year had increased in the last 5 year period. Of 185 cases, the 158 were infants aged less than 4 years. Ninety-five were male and 90 were female. In 82 cases the natural mothers were proved or strongly suspected to be responsible for the injuries, and the natural fathers in 48 cases, the stepmothers in 27 cases,and the stepfathers in 12 cases. The cause of death was intracranial lesions in 91 cases; subdural hematoma and subarachnoid hemorrhage were extremely frequent. A few cases of rupture of the liver, small intestine, stomach, spleen and heart were found. Other characteristic findings were traces of repeated various maltreatment, such as new and/or old abrasion, subcutaneous hemorrhage, and tobacco and/or moxacautery burns. The reasons and motives for child abuse and neglect are also mentioned. Out of 65 institutions providing additional opinions of other experts in answer to this questionnaire, 46 gave opinions on cases previously dealt with by other experts. More than half of the total 299 cases were concentratedly dealt with in 7 facilities. The number of cases dealt with in a single institution varied from 1 to 39. The number of cases per year was 30 in the last 5 year period in contrast to 20 in the previous 5 years Of all cases, 190 were criminal and 109 were civil. The maximum number of times of request for opinions on a case was 8 in criminal, and 4 in civil. Amont they criminal cases, autopsied cases showed the greatest percentage (63.6%) and injuries were the most frequently the subject of controversy, followed by the determination of the cause or type of death. Paternity tests accounted for 74.5% of all civil cases. Over 60% of the institutions dealing with cases dealt with elsewhere did not know the results of the judgements of courts. The survey of autopsy cases of therapeutic complications covered the year 1976 only because a similar study for the preceding 10 years (1966-75) had already been published. There were 45 cases of which 19 were male and 26 were female. Fourteen deaths were associated with anesthesia, 11 injections, 6 operations, 3 labor, 8 technical errors, 2 oral administration of drugs, and 1 erroneous use of drug. No further analyses were made because of the small number of the cases.
From ancient times to the present, many societies have practiced child abuse for various reasons. In this study, documents related to child abuse, scriptures, publications on medical history, ethics, sociology, anthropology, art history, mosaics in the Kariye Museum, and pictures from the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul were reviewed. The first miniature picture of an albino Zal was found and his story is presented briefly, and a mosaic representation of the story of the nationwide infanticide of King Herod was found in the ceiling of the Kariye Museum in Istanbul. It can be concluded that the abuse of female infants, illegitimate children, and malformed neonates was predominant. According to the results of this study, pediatric surgeons can benefit from a look at the history of child abuse in order to handle this problem adequately.
Problems encountered regarding the examination in forensic pathology are variable, even if the field of interest in limited to trauma alone. The most important problem appears to be the establishment of a causal relationship between the trauma and the death of the victim. From the materials I have contributed concerning examinations in forensic medicine, the problems inherent in the examination of the victim of traumatic shock may be introduced. The results from animal studies, which have been attempted to provide an experimental background to support the observations, are also discussed. My personal opinions on several trial cases in which there was a disagreement of opinion regarding the examination results will also be expressed. 1. Distinguishing death due to traumatic shock from death due to disease In the "Yacht school" incident, children with emotional disturbances and youths with a history of misconduct were treated with training which included physical punishment. Autopsy findings were compared between a 13-year old boy who was concluded to have died of traumatic shock from numerous beatings and a 21-year old youth who died of hemorrhagic pneumonia. In my opinion, a causative role of injury in the death was found in both cases. 2. Shock due to tourniquet This autopsy case concerns a 23-year-old male who entered a yoga training center, was tightly bound with a rope and died on the 8th day. Histological examination revealed thrombus formation in the small blood vessels and leukocyte agglutination within the blood vessels of the alveolar wall, suggesting DIC. While these findings were thought to be almost indistinguishable from those found in traumatic shock, the background conditions, including hunger, dehydration and hypothermia cannot be neglected in the evaluation. 3. Child abuse In one incident, a mother and her lover beat a 25-month old girl every day until her death. The original examination concluded that the cause of death was traumatic shock due to multiple trauma over the entire body caused by both adults. A second examination concluded that the cause of death was delayed suffocation due to binding of the chest and compression against a mattress. Based on an overall evaluation of the circumstances at the time of detection (including photographic evidence) as well as the contents of the statement made by the lover, I inferred that the head-down hanging of the child in the bathtub by the lover was directly related to the cause of death. In my opinion, the liability of the two adults in the crime was not the same.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Pathology and clinical research of child abuse
- Y Ikeda
Ikeda, Y. (1979). Pathology and clinical research of child abuse. Tokyo: Kongo Syuppan Press.
Jido-Gyakutai (Child abuse)
- Y Ikeda
Ikeda, Y. (1987). Jido-Gyakutai (Child abuse). Tokyo: Cyuou-Kouron-Sya Press.
Letters to the editor
- Y Ikeda
Ikeda, Y. (1992). Letters to the editor. Child Abuse & Neglect, 16, 313-316.
Jido-Gyakutai To Shinken (Parental authority on child abuse). Liberty and Justice
- K Izumi
Izumi, K. (1991). Jido-Gyakutai To Shinken (Parental authority on child abuse). Liberty and Justice, 42(2), 22-27.
A medico-legal and socio-medical consideration about the maltreated child
- Kouno
Kouno, A., & Matoba, R. (1989). A medico-legal and socio-medical consideration about the maltreated child. Japanese Journal of Pediatrics, 42(11), 163-170.
Kokumin Eisei No Doko
- Toukei-Kyoukai Kousei
Kousei-Toukei-Kyoukai, (1990). Kokumin Eisei No Doko. Tokyo.
Jido-Gyakutai (Child abuse and neglect)
- M Ohkuni
- Y Ikeda
- M Naitow
Ohkuni, M., Ikeda, Y., & Naitow, M. (1990). Jido-Gyakutai (Child abuse and neglect). The Journal of the Japan Medical Association, 103(9), 1437-1516.
Modern textbook of legal medicine
- I Shikata
Shikata, I. (1988). Modern textbook of legal medicine (2nd Ed.). Tokyo: Kanehara-Syuppan Press.
Kizuno-Fukasa, Naze Wagakono Gyakutaiwo ; Kodomono-Jinken Wa lma. Osaka: Liverty Booklet Press. pr6fecture d'Osaka a organis6 un groupe que s'occupe uniquement de d6pister les cas et de prot6ger les enfants. En 1993, ce groupe a publi6 un manuel expliquant comment venir aux prises avec la cmaut6
- T Takemura
Takemura, T. (1989). Kizuno-Fukasa, Naze Wagakono Gyakutaiwo ; Kodomono-Jinken Wa lma. Osaka: Liverty Booklet Press. pr6fecture d'Osaka a organis6 un groupe que s'occupe uniquement de d6pister les cas et de prot6ger les enfants. En 1993, ce groupe a publi6 un manuel expliquant comment venir aux prises avec la cmaut6; pourtant, les intervenants
Jido-Gyakutai To Shinken (Parental authority on child abuse)
- Izumi
Jido-Gyakutai (Child abuse and neglect)
- Ohkuni