Course Code

ELC091
CRITICAL READING AND REASONING

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
(ARTICLE ANALYSIS)

PREPARED BY:

NURIN IRDINA BINTI KAMAROZAMAN (2021623326)

KHAIRUL IKHWAN HAZIQ BIN KHAIRUZI (2021884984)
P1007K02

PREPARED FOR:
EUGENIE ANYAU
 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION 3

ARTICLE REPORT 4

WELL-WRITTEN ARTICLE 7

POORLY-WRITTEN ARTICLE 9

SUMMARY OF 3 UNCHOSEN ARTICLE 11

CONCLUSION 12

REFERENCES 13

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

INTRODUCTION
For our writing analysis assignment, our group has chosen to write about child
neglect. Child neglect is considered one of the forms of abuse. This form of neglect is
when parents or caregivers fail to provide the child with food, shelter, clothing, medical
care, or supervision to a degree that the child's health and safety are threatened. There
are five articles discussing child neglect. The main issue regarding our topic is whether
child neglect should be criminalised. A number of factors contribute to the production of
the best article. For example, the main idea, author’s purpose, author’s point of view
and many more. The reasons why elements play important roles are to convey
information to readers and to make the articles more interesting for readers. For this
assignment, we have identified one well written article titled,The neglect of child neglect:
a meta-analytic review of the prevalence of neglect written by Marije Stoltenborgh,
Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg & Marinus H. van IJzendoorn. At the same time, we
also identified a poorly written article titled,COVID-19 and Violence Against Children: A
Review Of Early Studies written by Claudia Cappa and Isabel Jijon(2021). The other
three articles that we did not choose have been summarized and we have outlined our
reasons for not choosing the articles.

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

ARTICLE REPORT

Title: The neglect of child neglect: a meta-analytic review of the prevalence

of neglect
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-012-0549-y

Well written Article

No. Elements (Title: The neglect of child neglect: a meta-analytic review
of the prevalence of neglect)

1. Author’s point of view The aim of the current meta-analysis was to provide an
estimate of the prevalence of physical and emotional neglect
by integrating prevalence figures from the body of research
reporting on neglect. An attempt was also made to unravel the
substantial variation in prevalence figures reported in primary
studies by analyzing the effects of procedural factors and
sample characteristics on combined prevalence rates.

(Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg &

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn)

2. Logical Variability existed among studies with respect to the number of

items used to establish physical or emotional neglect ranging
from one to eight items. The number of items used might
influence the reported prevalence, because multiple items may
include more—and more specific—information about neglect
than a single item. For example, in a study by Young et al.
[17], physical neglect was assessed with a single item in which
respondents replied “never true”, “rarely true”, or “sometimes
true” to the statement “There was someone to take care of you
and protect you.” (p. 1208).

(Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg &

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn)

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

3. Sufficiency Child neglect is a problem of considerable extent, but seems

to be a neglected type of maltreatment in scientific research.
This is illustrated by the deplorable dearth of studies on child
neglect, especially in low-resource countries.

(Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg &

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn)

4. Author’s purpose Neglect has been defined by the Consultation on Child Abuse
(to inform) Prevention [5] as the failure to provide for the development of
the child in all spheres: health, education, emotional
development, nutrition, shelter, and safe living conditions, in
the context of resources reasonably available to the family or
caretakers and causes or has a high probability of causing
harm to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral
or social development. This includes the failure to properly
supervise and protect children from harm as much as is
feasible.

(Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg &

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn)

5. Clarity Different subtypes of neglect exist. Physical neglect refers to

the failure to meet children’s physical needs, and includes for
example the failure to provide adequate nutrition, clothing,
personal hygiene, supervision, and medical attention.
Emotional neglect refers to the failure to meet children’s
emotional needs, and includes for example the failure to
provide adequate nurturance and affection, allowing children
to be witnesses of domestic violence, to knowingly permit
maladaptive behavior by the child, the failure to seek care for
emotional of behavioral problems, and the failure to provide
adequate structure. Educational neglect refers to the failure to
provide the care and supervision that are necessary to secure
a child’s education.

(Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg &

Marinus H. van IJzendoorn)

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

Title: COVID-19 and Violence Against Children: A Review Of Early Studies

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213421001265

No. Poorly Written Article

Elements (Title:COVID-19 and Violence Against Children: A
Review Of Early Studies)

1. Author’s purpose “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects

(to inform) of children’s lives and may be putting children around the
world at a greater risk of violence.”

(Claudia Cappa and Isabel Jijon, p.1)

2. Author’s Tone “Violence against children is a serious issue. In the short

(serious) term, it can lead to severe injuries, dangerous coping
behaviors, and even death.”

(Claudia Cappa and Isabel Jijon, p.2)

3. Assumption “Among the studies that focus on family violence, most of

them did not specify who the perpetrator of violence is. It
is assumed that it is a parent or caregiver, not a sibling or
elderly relative.”

(Claudia Cappa and Isabel Jijon, p.12)

4. Author’s point of view “They found that greater parental support and perceived
control during the pandemic are associated with lower
perceived stress and child abuse potential.”

(Claudia Cappa and Isabel Jijon, p.11)

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

ESSAY
WELL-WRITTEN ARTICLE:
The Neglect of Child Neglect: A Meta-analytic Review of The Prevalence of
Neglect

For our well-written article, we have chosen to use an article titled “The neglect of
child neglect: a meta-analytic review of the prevalence of neglect” that was written by
Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg & Marinus H. van IJzendoorn.
Based on our analysis of the elements that we have studied, the first element that we
found from the article is the author’s point of view. This element helps the author to
convey his or her point of view on a topic. From the sentence “The aim of the current
meta-analysis was to provide an estimate of the prevalence of physical and
emotional neglect by integrating prevalence figures from the body of research
reporting on neglect. An attempt was also made to unravel the substantial
variation in prevalence figures reported in primary studies by analyzing the
effects of procedural factors and sample characteristics on combined prevalence
rates.” We can see that the author is trying to convey his point of view from conducting
the meta-analysis. Thus, the author’s point of view is important because it portrays the
way of how the author sees the issue that is discussed in the article.

Next, the author has included ‘logical’ as the next element in the article. Logical
means reasonable and to be expected. We can decide whether the article is a logical
article or the opposite by looking at the consistency of thinking and the conclusions that
were made by referring to the evidence. Based on the sentence, “Variability existed
among studies with respect to the number of items used to establish physical or
emotional neglect ranging from one to eight items. The number of items used
might influence the reported prevalence, because multiple items may include
more—and more specific—information about neglect than a single item. For
example, in a study by Young et al. [17], physical neglect was assessed with a
single item in which respondents replied “never true”, “rarely true”, or
“sometimes true” to the statement “There was someone to take care of you and
protect you.” (p. 1208).” We can see that throughout the article, the author has made
thorough research so that the conclusion can be reasonable without a doubt, and the
way the author concludes the sentence logically is based on the evidence that has been
gathered by the author himself so that the article can be logical and make sense.

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

Furthermore, the author has shown sufficiency elements in the article. Sufficiency
means the measure to see if there is enough evidence to guarantee that the conclusion
is true or at least very close to the truth. As based on the sentence, “Child neglect is a
problem of considerable extent, but seems to be a neglected type of maltreatment
in scientific research. This is illustrated by the deplorable dearth of studies on
child neglect, especially in low-resource countries.” we can see that the author
stated the evidence alongside his or her statement to guarantee the sufficiency. The
premises that the author conveyed are all relevant to the topic so we can conclude that
it is deductive.
Moreover, the next element that the author portrayed is the author’s purpose (to
inform). There must be a reason why the author wrote an article. For this article, the
writer wants to share the main idea about child neglect. One of the common purposes
that are often used is the author’s purpose which is to inform. Based on the sentence,
“Neglect has been defined by the Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention [5] as
the failure to provide for the development of the child in all spheres: health,
education, emotional development, nutrition, shelter, and safe living conditions,
in the context of resources reasonably available to the family or caretakers and
causes or has a high probability of causing harm to the child’s health or physical,
mental, spiritual, moral or social development. This includes the failure to
properly supervise and protect children from harm as much as is feasible.” We
can see clearly that the author provides information and facts regarding child neglect to
explain or educate the readers to understand better.
Last but not least, the element applied is clarity. The purpose of clarity is to make the
reading easier for the reader to understand. Clarity exists when thinking is easy to
follow. As based on the sentence “Different subtypes of neglect exist. Physical
neglect refers to the failure to meet children’s physical needs, and includes for
example the failure to provide adequate nutrition, clothing, personal hygiene,
supervision, and medical attention. Emotional neglect refers to the failure to meet
children’s emotional needs, and includes for example the failure to provide
adequate nurturance and affection, allowing children to be witnesses of domestic
violence, to knowingly permit maladaptive behavior by the child, the failure to
seek care for emotional of behavioral problems, and the failure to provide
adequate structure. Educational neglect refers to the failure to provide the care
and supervision that are necessary to secure a child’s education.” We can see that
the author has shown the element by making the reading process easier for the
readers. When communicating or giving thoughts, it is important to apply clarity so that
the reader can understand what the authors are trying to convey in their articles. The
language used by the author is easy to understand and the author did explain well what
he was trying to say.

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

POORLY-WRITTEN ARTICLE :
COVID-19 and Violence Against Children: A Review Of Early Studies

For the poorly-written article, we have chosen one article titled, COVID-19 and
Violence Against Children: A Review Of Early Studies by Claudia Cappa and Isabel
Jijon (2021). The article has been examined based on the elements that can be
detected. The first thing we uncovered was the author's purpose. The article is meant to
inform. We can see it from the sentence in the article which is “The COVID-19
pandemic has disrupted many aspects of children’s lives and maybe putting
children around the world at a greater risk of violence.” The authors wrote this to let
the readers know about their topic. When readers read the sentence, they have to
consider what is the tone and main ideas of the passage. Therefore, the reason why we
selected this article as a poorly-written article is because of what the author intended to
accomplish.

The next element is the author's tone. The author's tone plays an important role in
writing an article as it will symbolize their attitude towards the writing and the reader.
From the article, there is a sentence that shows the author’s tone which is “Violence
against children is a serious issue. In the short term, it can lead to severe injuries,
dangerous coping behaviors, and even death.” The tone in this sentence is
confusing whether it is serious, angry, or caring. The readers may read the sentence
repeatedly because it is not understandable. Tone can be represented through the
details found in the message. Thus, the author’s tone is important to make the readers
feel what the authors are trying to address.

Apart from that, another element that is present in the article is assumption.
Assumption is usually often used to assume a thought. From the article, the sentence is
“Among the studies that focus on family violence, most of them did not specify
who the perpetrator of violence is. It is assumed that it is a parent or caregiver,
not a sibling or elderly relative.” We can conclude that the authors do not have clear
assumptions on the sentence. The authors do not have any evidence to make any
assumptions. The assumptions are not strong enough to show the thought as it could
be anything to make the action happen. Hence, assumption is one of the elements that
we chose as a poorly-written article.

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

Last but not least, we also identified the author’s point of view in this article. In this
article, the authors are biased towards the issue. The sentence in this article is “They
found that greater parental support and perceived control during the pandemic
are associated with lower perceived stress and child abuse prospects.” The
attitude displayed in this article and the author's position regarding the issue discussed
indicate a bias towards it. To summarize, we have outlined all the elements and reasons
why we chose this article as poorly written.

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

SUMMARY OF THE 3 UNCHOSEN ARTICLES

We did not write three articles because certain aspects did not appeal most to
readers when they read them. The first article is “Causes and Effects of Child Abuse”. In
this article, there is a sentence that says “The effects on a child depends on the degree
of the abuse is, the greater the abuse, the greater the effect on the child. Abused
children also exhibit conditions like difficulty in building up relationships with others so
he/she will be isolated from the community. A feeling of guilt and anger can develop and
may become an abuser him/herself later in the adult stage.” From this phrase, we can
clearly see that the elements of assumption are being portrayed. The author generally
mentions the effects of child neglect without clarifying the evidence so it weakens the
sentence because if the reasoning is flawed, the conclusion will not be supported. On
the other hand, the second article that was not chosen is “Long Term Consequences of
Child Abuse and Neglect on Adult Economic Well-Being”. Based on the article, the
sentence “Maltreatment appears to affect men and women differently, with larger effects
for women than men.” makes the element of the author’s bias shown. The author’s bias
happens when the author presents a controversial issue and they may side whether to
support or against the issue. Based on this sentence, it clearly showed that the author is
being biased by stating that women have larger effects than men when it comes to
maltreatment. Last but not least, the last article that we did not choose is “Awareness of
different forms of child abuse among Beni Suef University students: descriptive survey”.
In this article, there are certain elements that the readers need to read over and over
again. The sentence in this article is “Sexual abuse includes a child’s involvement in a
sexual act for physical or financial gain, such as child genital exposure, viewing or
sexual contact with a child, and child pornography. Psychological abuse is the most
common and challenging type of child abuse.” Based on this text, we can see that the
author’s tone is being serious. The authors being serious in this text is because they
want to send a message to the readers about what actually happened when the child
neglect occurred. After all, these are the main reasons and elements why we did not
choose these articles to be well-written and the poorly-written articles.

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 WRITTEN ARTICLE ANALYSIS : CHILD NEGLECT

CONCLUSION
After finishing this written assignment for article analysis regarding child neglect, we
got to identify and analyze the well-written and poorly-written articles between the 5
articles. We identified the articles based on elements that have been used by the
authors. For instance, the elements that we have identified from the articles are the
author’s purpose, tone, choice of words, point of view, and others. From the messages,
the authors have used the elements to convey the readers and make it crystal clear and
more understandable. Furthermore, the elements that the authors have used in the
articles will make the readers more interested in reading it. Hence, writing elements play
an important role in making writing engaging and understandable. It is imperative that
authors consider many aspects when writing an article, especially in terms of conveying
a message. Therefore, if the author uses the elements correctly, they will be able to
write an excellent article.

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REFERENCES

Article 1: Well-Written

Stoltenborgh, M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J. & van IJzendoorn, M.H. The neglect of
child neglect: a meta-analytic review of the prevalence of neglect. Soc Psychiatry
Psychiatr Epidemiol 48, 345–355 (2013). Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0549-y

Article 2: Poorly-Written

Claudia Cappa and Isabel Jijon (2021),COVID-19 and Violence Against Children: A
Review Of Early Studies. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213421001265

3 UNCHOSEN ARTICLES

Article 3

All Answers Ltd. (November 2018). Causes and Effects of Child Abuse.
Retrieved from
https://nursinganswers.net/essays/child-abuse-cause-and-effects.php?vref=1

Article 4

Currie, J., & Widom, C. S. (2010). Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect
on adult economic well-being. Child maltreatment, 15(2), 111–120. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559509355316

Article 5

Nermeen N. Welson & Yasmen A. Mohamed(December 2019), Awareness of different

forms of child abuse among Beni Suef University students: descriptive survey.
Retrieved from
https://ejfs.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41935-019-0174-y

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