Korea has established systems and policies to respond to child mistreatment at the national level since the definition and types of child mistreatment were specified through a full-scale revision of the Child Welfare Act in 2000. However, the trigger for the whole society’s interest and demand for child mistreatment was the death of an 8-year-old girl known as the so-called ‘Chilgok Stepmother Abuse’ case in 2013. After this incident, which led to the enactment of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Crimes of Child Abuse in 2014, social interest in child abuse increased rapidly. Social attention has been focused on extreme incidents that resulted in the death of a victim, and as these incidents have led to legal and institutional changes to respond to child mistreatment, child mistreatment response policies have been continuously strengthened. As the punishment for child mistreatment offenders has been strengthened and the legal system has changed for early intervention in child mistreatment, the direction to respond to child mistreatment has been strengthened from a judicial point of view beyond child welfare. Despite these changes, even in 2021, there was an incident in which a 7-month-old child died from continuous abuse during the 270 days of being adopted by adoptive parents, shocking the entire nation, and the director of a daycare center killing a 21-month-old child. 40 children died as a result of child mistreatment, including cases of death due to mistreatment such as stepping on and pressing. Social demands for tougher punishment are increasing whenever a death occurs, but the question arises whether such judicial response can be a fundamental response to prevent child mistreatment. In particular, in the recent pandemic crisis caused by COVID-19, the frequency of media reports on shocking child mistreatment cases is increasing. Deaths due to abandonment and neglect of children, such as the death of a child due to the Incheon fire, have increased the level of social isolation due to the pandemic. In a situation where the social safety net is weakened, such as loss, failure to nurture and protect children in society and at home, it shows that failure to nurture and protect children in society and at home is manifesting as child mistreatment.

  Although the intervention of judicial and administrative agencies in child mistreatment has been strengthened through judicialization and publicization of the child mistreatment response system, systematic responses from the public and private sectors responsible for the care system and safety and protection of children in society will be essential in order to solve the problem of not being able to properly nurture and protect children in the family. The current child mistreatment response system is built to intervene through collaboration between the public and private sectors centered on the state and local governments through judicialization and publicization. It is necessary to check whether the changed child mistreatment response system is properly responding to various types of child mistreatment in various aspects, and whether it is leading social and family changes to prevent child mistreatment. In addition, although judicial intervention and case management on child mistreatment have recently been strengthened, a child’s experience of management greatly affects the normal development of the individual victim and causes serious disability for a long time, so intervention for psychological treatment such as aftereffects of the victim is key. The impact of the experience of child management on mental health is a very serious shock that lasts into adulthood, not just in childhood or adolescence medical disability, such as cognitive impairment (linguistic and cognitive impairment), and behavioral impairment (antisocial behavior, delinquency and violence, suicide). Therefore, it is necessary to find out more specifically about effective psychotherapy.

  After the publicization of the child mistreatment response system in October 2020, as the functions such as investigation and judgment on child mistreatment cases were transferred to local governments, child protection agencies have changed to the main agents of therapeutic intervention in charge of child mistreatment case management, Child protection agencies are in charge of case management and prevention of child mistreatment, such as treatment of children and prevention of recurrence of child mistreatment. Therefore, it is necessary to review the psychological treatment capabilities and actual conditions in child protection institutions.

  In this study, We diagnose whether the child mistreatment response system, which was built around the concept of child abuse to protect children from failures in raising and protecting children in society and at home, is properly intervening in cases of child mistreatment that appears in various types depending on the context and structure of child mistreatment. To this end, we present the classification of child mistreatment cases through the analysis of child mistreatment occurrence status, criminal law response status, and child mistreatment occurrence factors, focusing on child mistreatment cases in the judgment. In addition, child mistreatment response system according to classification, that is, judicial response system such as criminal handling and child protection case handling, child abuse case judgment and child victim protection measures centered on local governments, and welfare response such as child abuse case management centered on child protection agencies. The current state of operation of the system and issues in practice are reviewed, and the response system for the recovery of victimized children is analyzed. In addition, by examining the implications of legal and institutional responses to child mistreatment and abused children in foreign countries, we intend to suggest concrete ways to improve the child abuse response system.

  In order to establish a fundamental child mistreatment prevention and abused child protection support policy that goes beyond strengthening punishment for child mistreatment offenders, it is necessary to analyze the context and factors in which child mistreatment actually occurs and find ways to respond to child mistreatment. Through an in-depth analysis of the causes and factors of neglect/abandonment, physical/mental violence, etc., the context in which child mistreatment occurs in the home or in infant care institutions such as daycare centers and kindergartens is to be diagnosed. This includes existing family systems such as marriage and adoption, child care service policies, employment types and treatment in care work such as childcare teachers, and labor and social welfare systems and policies surrounding child rearing. The social structure of discourse on child rearing and caring, such as social attitudes toward child rearing and the social value of caring labor, will also have an impact. By examining the context of occurrence of child mistreatment more structurally, it will be possible to find the direction and concrete measures of response policies in terms of social welfare support as well as judicial policies on child mistreatment.

  Along with the safety and protection of abused children, an important axis is to help abused children escape from the psychological sequelae they suffer from abuse. If this is not done, it may change the course of life with far-reaching effects not only in adolescence but also in adulthood. We will examine our response system to the damage of child mistreatment that can have such a serious impact, and seek the need for more active and continuous psychotherapy and how to utilize the psychotherapy program. 

  Child mistreatment occurs not only in the home but also in institutions other than the home, such as daycare centers and kindergartens. Since there are differences in the occurrence structure, factors, and response direction of families and infant protection institutions such as daycare centers and kindergartens where child mistreatment mainly occurs, this study is conducted for two years. It is divided into child mistreatment in infant protection institutions. Since the actual conditions, causes, and factors of each child abuse occurrence will be different, we would like to suggest a more differentiated improvement plan through an in-depth analysis of these.