ABSTRACT The term ‘emotional abuse’ is acknowledged by law in the Children Act 1989 and refers to the wider social concept of harm that occurs in the psychosocial domain. Emotional abuse is a contested notion and a form of harm that statutory child protection social workers find difficult to recognise and gather evidence of. Early preventative intervention approaches, which occur outside the legal system, are the preferred course of action in work with emotional abuse. However, child protection social workers may use their statutory powers and duties to implement interventions when cases are deemed to require attention within legal frameworks.Professionals routinely fear legal work in cases of emotional abuse, feeling inadequately equipped to engage effectively with the law. This article draws on rich research data, gathered for an Economic and Social Research Council funded doctoral project. The data offers an original perspective on the interaction between social work and law, adding to existing literature on the frictions that exists. Using psychosocial methods, the research explores social worker experiences of identifying and evidencing emotional abuse, with particular attention to the application of ‘attachment theory’. The article shines a light on some practice complexities of identifying and evidencing emotional abuse.

中文翻译：

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评估灵魂上的瘀伤：识别和证明童年的情感虐待

摘要 “情感虐待”一词在 1989 年《儿童法》中得到法律承认，是指发生在社会心理领域的更广泛的社会伤害概念。情感虐待是一个有争议的概念，也是法定儿童保护社会工作者难以识别和收集证据的一种伤害形式。发生在法律体系之外的早期预防性干预方法是处理情感虐待的首选行动方案。然而，当案件被认为需要在法律框架内得到关注时，儿童保护社会工作者可能会利用他们的法定权力和职责来实施干预。专业人士通常害怕在情感虐待案件中从事法律工作，觉得没有足够的能力有效地参与法律。本文借鉴了丰富的研究数据，为经济和社会研究委员会资助的博士项目聚集在一起。这些数据提供了关于社会工作与法律之间相互作用的原始视角，增加了关于存在摩擦的现有文献。该研究使用社会心理方法探索社会工作者识别和证明情绪虐待的经验，特别关注“依恋理论”的应用。这篇文章阐明了识别和证明情感虐待的一些实践复杂性。特别注意“依恋理论”的应用。这篇文章阐明了识别和证明情感虐待的一些实践复杂性。特别注意“依恋理论”的应用。这篇文章阐明了识别和证明情感虐待的一些实践复杂性。