battered child syndrome
battered-child syndrome. Family law. A constellation of medical and psychological conditions of a child who has suffered continuing injuries that could not be accidental and are therefore presumed to have been inflicted by someone close to the child, usu. a caregiver. • Diagnosis typically results from a radiological finding of distinct bone trauma and persistent tissue damage caused by intentional injury, such as twisting or hitting with violence. The phrase was first used by Dr. Henry Kempe and his colleagues in a 1962 article entitled “The Battered Child Syndrome,” which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. As a result of research on battered-child syndrome, the Children’s Bureau of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare drafted a model statute requiring physicians to report serious cases of suspected child abuse. See CHILD-ABUSE AND -NEGLECT REPORTING STATUTE. [Cases: Criminal Law 474.4(4).]
