The perspective of evil in understanding and treating child abuse.

This paper places the problem of child abuse in the perspective of evil. In so doing it calls into question the amoral assumptions of social science and human services. The current social science paradigm paradoxically dismisses evil as a real factor in the world, despite its concern for indisputably moral issues such as child abuse. The practical advantages of a perspective incorporating evil are several. Among them are a more realistic appreciation of the need for mechanisms of social control in preventing abuse, the role of confession and conversion, and the role of pastoral care as a support system for families.