Defining Well-Being and Missed Opportunities to Promote Child Development: The Passing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

Introduction: It is widely known that the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974 was passed as the first national child maltreatment legislation. However, few are aware of the alternative approaches to CAPTA that were available to promote the positive developmental outcomes of children and youth during the late 1960s and 1970s. This paper explores how child well-being was conceptualized prior to the passage of CAPTA, and the alternative approaches that could have been selected instead of CAPTA to promote positive child development. The following three research questions inform the present study: 1) To what extent were current day conceptualizations of child well-being considered in historical policy documents in the late 1960s and 1970s prior to the passage of CAPTA? 2) According to CAPTA Congressional records, what was considered the most critical aspect regarding the well-being of children in the 1960s and 1970s? and 3) What alternative approaches were available to address the well-being of children during this time?

Methods: This study utilized a Rapid Qualitative Analysis approach (Hamilton, 2013), often utilized when research questions are deductive and explanatory in nature. Language within six historical policy documents, before the passing of CAPTA, were analyzed to understand various domains including the definition of child well-being; aspects of child and family well-being; approaches to responding to child abuse; and the missed opportunities for child development. Historical policy documents include opening statements, hearings, and deliberations involving witness testimonials, research studies, news articles, and other submitted documents used by Congress to justify the passing of CAPTA.

Results: Authors identified three themes: 1) Prior to the passage of CAPTA, there were no definitions or indirect indicators in the records to suggest an expansive understanding of well-being that included current day conceptualizations, 2) the absence of child abuse and neglect was the primary determinant of child well-being during this time period, and 3) while several alternatives to CAPTA were discussed such as providing behavioral health treatment and modification for caregivers; investing in accessible infant and early childhood care programs; providing before and after school care for working families; and providing parenting classes, CAPTA was ultimately selected as the preferred policy choice.

Discussion: It is important to recognize that the definition of an issue influences the policy approach to addressing it. Given that the current operational definition of child well-being varies, it is essential to understand how the historical definition of child well-being during this time influenced the ultimate policy approach selected. As avoiding child abuse and neglect was the primary concern, CAPTA was ultimately passed, which emphasizes parental surveillance, punitive approaches to parenting, and parental criminalization. However, today child well-being is increasingly understood using positive, promotive, and strengths-based principles, encompassing theoretical frameworks that emphasize capacity acquisition (e.g., the Two Sources Theory), and measurement approaches that attempt to capture the presence of well-being beyond the absence of ill-being. Acknowledging how language ultimately influences policy choices and advocating for inclusive language within legislative settings is crucial.