아동학대 예방 및 보호정책의 변동과정에 관한 연구

Abstract

This study presents an analyzation to the changing process of child abuse prevention and protection policies that still fail to reduce the frequency or severity of child abuse cases despite their efforts in the last few decades. For this purpose, the study applied Kingdon's policy stream framework and examined policy errors to figure out the characteristics and policy errors in the changing process of a concerned policy. The time scope of the study was divided into three phases: Phase 1 of declarative symbolism spanned from 1996 to 2000 and witnessed the all-out revision and implementation of the Child Welfare Law; Phase 2 of reinforced power of execution spanned from 2001 to 2014 and saw the enactment of the Act on the unishment of Child Abuse Crimes; and Phase 3 of reinforced responsibility spanned from 2014 to 2021 and saw the abolishment of disciplinary rights in civil law. The phases were analyzed closely, and the study set the following specific goals: First, the Policy Stream Framework by Kingdon (1984) would be applied to analyze the changing process of child abuse prevention and protection policies in the nation. The framework is used to examine closely the stream of an issue, politics, and a policy in a certain case and explain their combinations with an independent and unpredictable stream emerging in the process with a policy window. That is, it is a very fit model applicable to the changing process of child abuse prevention and protection policies in the nation. Second, policy decisions are limited by their scope of choice restricted by the institutional framework of policies that were established in the past and had been maintained. The uncertainty and complexity of policies lead to clear errors connoted in policies (Song Ha-jin and Kim Yeong-pyeong, 2006: 53). Thus, the present study analyzes errors in the setting and design process of a policy issue, errors in the policy execution process, and correction errors in the correction process of errors in terms of possibilities in cases of child abuse prevention and protection. The study reached the following conclusions: First, there is a need to redefine the concept of child abuse and arrange the concerned laws and systems in a fundamental and comprehensive manner to establish a practical child abuse prevention system to promote children's human rights. In South Korea, the child abuse prevention and protection policies only open a policy window after a serious child abuse case happens despite the ongoing stream of the issue. Children's rights organizations carried out a "pressure group campaign" to target policymakers, and the press and civic groups maintained the stream of politics. These efforts led to institutional responses by the government and the National Assembly and eventually to policy changes. That is, the analysis results show that the child abuse prevention and protection policies made proper changes according to different periods but failed to stop repeating the same errors and resolve real social issues involving child abuse effectively. Secondly, policy entrepreneurs should be allowed to expand the scope of their targets and receive authority and reward as well as responsibilities to reinforce child abuse prevention and protection policies. In the policy changing process, policy entrepreneurs included civic groups and some politicians that had interest in child abuse and people bound in duty to give notification. They played a major role in policy changes in each period. The findings of this study also show that they played a huge role in the correction process of errors in child abuse prevention and protection policies. Most of all, policy effectiveness can be enhanced by increasing the children's voice through education on children's human rights and encouraging every citizen to watch out for child abuse as well as those bound in duty to give notification. Finally, the analysis results found that policy errors in the changing process of child abuse prevention and protection policies in the nation were not restricted to certain periods. There were continuous streams of specific errors, including problem-setting errors due to the insufficient viewpoint to consider the best interest in children's human rights and protection, design errors involving the inefficiency of the budget structure, execution errors due to an insufficient sense of responsibility and cooperation systems among the subjects reacting to child abuse, and correction errors due to the lack of errors to investigate the actual states and causes of events at the national level and the partial correction of the systems. In South Korea, the child abuse prevention and protection policies are characterized by repeating policy errors of a similar nature despite several changing processes. A policy should be improved in a better direction through the changing process. Child abuse prevention and protection policies should safely protect children from real abuse and help them grow into whole persons at the national level. Civil servants in charge of child abuse prevention and protection in departments that set and implement such policies should be accountable for closely figuring out policy errors in the old changing process and correcting them to stop them from repeating. This study analyzes the changing process of child abuse prevention and protection policies in South Korea and also the policy errors in the process. The research process and results represent a very meaningful attempt at a time when the child abuse prevention and protection paradigm is spreading around the world. In addition, the study included a time scope of more than 20 years from 1996 in its analysis, analyzed the dynamic policy changing process according to the policy stream framework, and found policy errors, thus claiming its value and significance.