Abstract:
Neglecting the child could be a factor for generating
mentally and physically ill people all around the world. Child
neglect has simply defined the avoidance of primary care and
failure to provide basic facilities including food, clothing,
healthcare, education for the child by their parents or guardian.
Child neglect considers as the most prevalent category of child
abuse not only in Sri Lanka but also worldwide. Child welfare
specialists form common categories of neglect including physical
neglect, medical neglect, inadequate supervision, environmental
neglect, emotional neglect, educational neglect. Though previous
researchers have identified all the above categories of child
neglect, there is no research have done to identify the most
common category of child neglect in the Sri Lankan Context. The
objective of this study is to identify the most common category of
child neglect in Gampaha district, western province, Sri Lanka.
Primary data were collected using mixed research method.
Distributed structured questionnaires (N=134) and conducted
semi-structured interviews (N=10) from neglected children who
were reported in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. The researcher
used descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and content analysis
for analyzing purposes. The findings show the physical neglect is
the most common type of child neglect while the cognitive neglect
type has the lowest respondents. Supervision and emotional
neglect indicated third and fourth places respectively.
Government should take necessary action in assigning relevant
officers including Child Rights Promoting Officers, Social
Workers, Gramasewaka, and active officers for the relevant
committees in order to spot children who are neglected by their
families