NCJ Number
120349
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: (1989) Pages: 481-489
Date Published
1989
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes a framework for understanding fatal maltreatment by mothers based on an in-depth study of incarcerated women.
Abstract
While fatal maltreatment is not homogeneous, the circumstances leading to the fatality followed a similar progression even though the specifics of each case varied. The framework is characterized by a recurrent pattern of abuse culminating in the fatality. All of the women had abused the deceased child prior to the fatality. The women provided warning signals to professionals and to members of their personal networks (kin, friends, neighbors) by alerting them to the abusive incidents. The fatal incident was not a one-time assault, but the exit point of a continuing pattern of abusive interactions that was maintained by the woman's ability to explain, rationalize, and minimize the abuse to herself and to her network. 1 figure, 26 references. (Author abstract modified)