NCJ Number
146064
Date Published
1979
Length
30 pages
Annotation
In the late 1970's, estimates of the number of children abused in the United States ranged from half a million to 1.5 million, and various investigators have sought to identify the psychological roots of abusive behavior and techniques for detecting and preventing child abuse.
Abstract
A team of sociologists studying a nationally representative sample of 2,143 families found that child abuse is a dramatic and visible aspect of a broader pattern of violence characterizing families. Abused children appear to have impaired intellectual functions and also suffer from physical, psychological, and social problems. For many abused children, lingering physical disabilities merge with intellectual and emotional difficulties in a pattern that often causes lifelong problems. Some studies suggest that the effect of poverty and family disorganization on children may be as strong as the abuse itself. Abused and neglected children frequently exhibit low self-esteem and may have abnormal sexual attitudes and behavior. Violent behavior has frequently been cited as an additional outcome of child abuse. Personality characteristics that abusive parents share are considered, child development research is reported, and therapeutic and legal responses to both abusers and victims are discussed. 27 references