neglect

大阪で23歳の女性が育児放棄のために3歳の娘と1歳の息子２人を死なせたという痛ましい事件がありました。発見時に，彼らの体に外傷などは全くなかったものの，体は極端にやせ細って（emaciated）いました。真相はまだわかっていませんが，慢性的に養育放棄（child neglect）が行われていたようです。
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Mom held after children found 'starved to death' in Osaka flat
OSAKA (Kyodo) A 23-year-old woman was arrested Friday after her two small children were found dead, possibly of starvation, in her apartment in the city of Osaka, and after local child welfare officials tried five times in vain to check on the kids in May.
Sanae Shimomura, who works at an adult entertainment shop, was quoted as telling investigators, "I got sick of feeding them and giving them baths."
Police suspect her 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son had been dead since late June, and are investigating, looking to press an initial charge of abandonment of bodies, they said.
While there were no wounds on the children, their bodies were emaciated, indicating they may have died of starvation, the police said, adding they will carry out autopsies to determine the exact cause of death.
The arrest came after the police received a call from a colleague of the mother that an unusual odor was coming from the flat, which led to them finding the naked bodies of the two children, they said, adding Shimomura did not show up for work during the past several days.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100731a3.html
この記事で気になったのがneglectという言葉です。『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第4版，大修館書店）によるとその語源は「拾い上げ（lect）ない（neg）→おろそかにする」とありました。“neg”のつく単語を思い浮かべるとnegativeといった否定的な単語が出てきますし，“lect”とくればすぐcollectionやelectionといった集めるニュアンスを含んだ単語が思いつきます。いずれにしてもneglectには「=無視する」だけではすまされない，たがが外れた社会の病巣のひとつが追加されたと思います。幼児の心の叫びを無視して，育児を放棄した23歳の母親はその時，何を考えそのような行動に至ったのでしょうか。一概に言えませんが，物質的に豊かになっても精神的な内面の部分は貧しくなってしまっているということを痛切に感じる事件でした。幼子の冥福を祈ります。つらかったね。ごめんね。（ゼミ生 camel）