How Research on Child Maltreatment Has Informed the Study of Child Development: Perspectives From Developmental Psychopathology (From Child Maltreatment: Theory and Research on the Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect, P 377-431, 1989, Dante Cicchetti and Vicki Carlson, eds. -- See NCJ

• NCJ Number: 123375
• Author(s): D Cicchetti
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 60 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This discussion of child abuse and neglect examines how study of the causes, intergenerational transmission, and consequences of child abuse and neglect can enhance knowledge about several important issues related to normal development and explains how a developmental approach to the analysis of maltreated children and their families promotes understanding of child abuse.

Abstract

The analysis uses a transactional model, in which the environment and the child exert a dynamic mutual influence on each other. It examines the association between child abuse and problems in the child's successful development in the areas of attachment; autonomy and self-development; establishment of peer relationships; and integration of attachment, autonomy, and peer relationships. It emphasizes that not all maltreated children who experience problems in these areas will later develop psychopathology, but that future disturbances in functioning are likely. The analysis concludes with 16 research proposals, with emphasis on the need for longitudinal studies, multidisciplinary approaches, studies in varied settings, analyses of the role of the extended family, and comparisons of traditional and alternative care arrangements for abused and neglected children. 148 references.