經濟變遷趨勢下的社會問題-家庭經濟與兒童虐待關係的再檢驗

「經濟壓力」係當前台灣社會全民所共同感同身受且備受社會關注與討論的議題之一，從官方資料以及國內外相關研究發現，皆已顯現「家庭經濟」與「兒童虐待」之間具有關聯性存在。研究家庭問題的學者，認為兒童虐待普遍的存在在每一個人類社會中。不論是歐美先進的工業化社會，發展中國家、落後地區、或原始社會中，都普遍存在著兒童虐待的問題。家庭本為組成社會之基礎，家庭和諧對於社會整體安全及發展有其重要性，近年來常在報章雜誌、電視新聞裡看到兒童虐待之事件，時常讓人感到震驚卻也無奈，兒童虐待的成因很多，兒童虐待之發生對於家庭之影響，不僅會造成家庭破碎，使當事人本人身心受創，對於家庭成員以及未成年子女之成長過程、行為及價值觀，更是影響深遠，埋下日後社會安全之隱憂，在此暴力情境也承擔了莫大的心理壓力，兒童虐待是嚴重的社會問題。近年來時代與環境的快速變動，婚姻與家庭結構也產生了劇烈的變化，許多非預期的狀況，形成個人或家庭的壓力；本研究旨在探討家庭經濟、兒童虐待與城鄉差異之關係，俾利政府官員釐定兒童虐待預防政策之參考，實證時採用2005至2014年縱斷面資料建構迴歸模型，檢驗各縣市之兒童虐待案件與家庭經濟的關係，並納入城鄉差異的考量。研究結果顯示家庭收支與兒童虐待發生率呈負向關係，由於家庭收支愈大，可降低兒童虐待發生率。此外，家庭人口數與家庭就業人口亦呈負向關係，有較高的收入，亦可降低兒童虐待發生率。本研究亦發現家庭自有財產對兒童虐待發生率呈負向影響，支持家庭自有財產可以讓家庭生活更穩定。

關鍵字

家庭暴力；兒童虐待；家庭經濟；城鄉差異

並列摘要

“Economic Pressure” is a current pressing issue that concerns the people of Taiwan, and it has continued to draw attention and generate discussions. Government publications and relevant research on the subject suggest there is a link between family economic and child abuse. Scholarly research on family issues, such as that of Goode (1971), suggests that child abuse exists in every human society, and is generally a problem across the globe, whether in advanced industrialized societies, developing or less developed societies. The family is the foundation of society, and a harmonious family can play a very important role in the safety and development of a society. In recent years, there has been an increasing number of reports about child abuse in the media; such news very often leaves a long lasting impact on people. Child abuse is said to be the cause of family breakdown, leaving all family members physically and mentally traumatized. As well, child abuse can impact on a child’s growth, behavior and development, and this can lead to future social concerns. In addition, the nature of marriage and structure of family have also experienced radical changes in recent years, and as a result, people are faced with more unpredictable situations that may pose challenges to their daily life. This study sets out to investigate the relationship between the family economic, child abuse and Urban-rural differences. It hopes to help government officials in determining prevention policies and strategies for child abuse. Data from 2005 to 2014 have been selected for use in this study. The result demonstrates a negative relationship between the family income and expenditure and the incidence of child abuse, which is due to the fact that greater family income and expenditure reduces the incidence of child abuse. The result simultaneously shows negative relationship between the number of family members and family employment, and that higher income can reduce the incidence of child abuse. The study also shows that family-owned property on the incidence of child abuse was a negative effect, supporting the general conception that a family-owned property may contribute to the stability of family life.