Coming Full Circle: A Social Context for Henry Kempe's Work

With this article and the symposium in which it was first presented, we mark the 50th anniversary of the seminal article by Denver pediatrician C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues on "The Battered Child Syndrome." That work is correctly attributed to have been the impetus for the subsequent political and professional interest in child abuse, the development of the American child protection system, the establishment of similar structures in many other countries, and the promulgation of legal and social norms vesting all health and social service professionals (in some states, all citizens) with responsibility for initiating legal proceedings for protection of children. [Copyright American Psychological Association]