This article reviews the meaning and origins of child maltreatment in relation to children with disabilities. The heightened risk of abuse that is faced by such children arises from dynamics within the familial and community context of the child. (Author/DB)

Criticizes Joseph Goldstein, Anna Freud, and Albert Solnit for their emphasis on family autonomy versus social interdependence in dealing with family problems. Stresses the importance of preventive services and holds that the best interests of children lie in public policy that empowers the community as a family support system. (Author/MJL)

This study used multiple regression analyses to identify the socioeconomic, demographic and attitudinal correlates of neighborhood differences in the rate of child abuse and neglect. Comparison of actual vs. predicted rates defined high- and low-risk neighborhoods. These "risk scores" then become variables for inclusion in additional…

Examines parental, adolescent, and family system characteristics that place a family at risk of destructive parent/child relations during the child's adolescence. Maladjusted youth from 10 through 16 years of age and both of their parents were visited at home by a team of researchers, who administered a battery of questionnaire, interview, and…

This paper attempts to explicate a model of child maltreatment as a problem of family asynchrony-i.e., as a mismatch of parent to child and of family to neighborhood and community. The problem is best understood as an issue in the study of the ecology of family life. (Author)

Discusses patterns of child abuse, the role of privacy, and the dangers of family isolation which permits child abuse when stress and parental instability are present. Decries trend away from "instrusive kinship and neighborhood networks," and calls for support for abuse-monitoring systems. (BF)

Defines the problem of child abuse, indicates problems of researching the phenomenon, and presents the thesis that the maltreatment of children is fundamentally a cultural problem. Proposes four hypotheses concerning the origins of child abuse and discusses the role of schools in prevention and treatment. (RH)

A developmental perspective of family violence requires examining the parental, adolescent, and family system characteristics that place a family at-risk for destructive parent-child relations in adolescence. Families (N=64), all of which consisted of a youth aged 10-16 and two parents, completed the Adolescent-Abuse Inventory (AAI); the Achenbach…

The thesis underlying this paper is that maltreatment of children is fundamentally a socio-cultural problem, rather than a personal one. The use of an ecological model of human development is advocated to provide insight into the dynamics of child maltreatment, with emphasis on organism-environment interaction, social policy and second-order…

The prevention of child abuse is bound up in the joining together of social nurturance and social control, which flow directly from the concept of support systems. Families involved in maltreatment are likely to be cut off from prosocial support systems. In contrast to psychiatric approaches, more recent behavioristic methods concentrate on…

This paper examines the ability and inclination of contemporary American family systems to allocate resources on a child-centered rather than an adult-centered basis. Specifically, the discussion considers whether the changing economic context of family life results in placing inappropriate demands for maturity upon children--albeit differently…