Child Battering Tendencies in Nigeria: A Complementary Approach to Child Abuse Eradication

Abstract

Considering the pattern and manner of constitutional passages of child related laws and the contract of ambition of National Philosophy of Education in Nigeria which requires the promotion of physical, emotional and psychological development of all children, much is required from the educational sector to salvage the situation. This paper therefore identifies and describes an aspect of child abuse – child battering, with particular reference to the form and dimensions it is taking in the society for the purpose of identifying factors that predict the abuse. The path and cues that could aid in identifying potential victims and batterers are presented and it is recommended that rather than over concentrate on child abuse laws, a predictive approach that emphasizes the need to fund test instrument development for predicting child battery tendencies should be undertaken.