According to a 1986 survey conducted for the federal government, approximately 300,000 children are physically abused, another 140,000 are sexually abused, and 700,000 are neglected or otherwise maltreated in the United States each year. 1 The country clearly needs an effective public system to protect its children.At the same time, such a system must avoid excessive state intervention into family life.In Recognizing Child Abuse, Douglas J. Besharov 2 argues that the current system of child protection produces dangerously high rates of both underreporting and overreporting 3 of maltreatment of children, which cause inappropriately low and high levels of state intervention, respectively. 4 He concludes that more accurate reporting of abuse will alleviate these problems, and thus devotes the bulk of the book to articulating specific guidelines to assist potential reporters in making the critical decision of whether or not to report a suspicion of child abuse.The author intends to address a wide range of audiences, including friends and relatives of children who may be subject to abuse and professionals who are in a position to report suspected maltreatment of a child.He also recommends this book to parents who are accused of abusing their own children or who fear that someone else is abusing them.In addition, by suggesting improvements in the identification and reporting processes, Besharov attempts to provide a framework for legislative and programmatic reform.He envisions the book aiding "[t]he general public, agency administrators, legislators, and other policy-makers who are concerned about the maltreatment of
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