Legal Definitions - harmful behavior

Definition: Harmful behavior refers to conduct that can cause harm or injury to another person, especially a child. There are different types of harmful behavior:

• Cumulatively harmful behavior: This refers to harmful parental or caregiver behavior that, if continued over a significant period, can cause serious harm to a child.
• Immediately harmful behavior: This refers to harmful parental or caregiver behavior that could have caused serious injury to a child but did not result in any injury due to the intervention of an outside force or a fortuitous event.
• Seriously harmful behavior: This refers to parental or caregiver behavior that is capable of causing serious injury to a child in their care. Examples of seriously harmful behavior include physical battering, physical neglect, sexual abuse, and abandonment.

For instance, physical battering is a form of seriously harmful behavior that can cause physical harm to a child. Sexual abuse is another example of seriously harmful behavior that can cause emotional and psychological harm to a child.

It is important to identify and address harmful behavior to protect the well-being of children and prevent further harm.