NCJ Number
159837
Date Published
1994
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Problems such as the long-held attitude that children are the property of parents, intergenerational abuse, social isolation, and drug abuse can all result in parental abuse of children.
Abstract
Children are generally not thought to need protection because they have their parents to look out for them. Because this is not always the case and parents do not "own" their children, all children have the right to grow up surrounded by social relationships that are close, personal, and enduring. These relationships may not always be established by parents, and parental authority and power are misused when they are used to physically or emotionally damage the child. Family stress can be caused by social isolation and a mobile society in which job changes and educational needs frequently take people to new parts of the country. Disciplinary situations are more likely to turn into child abuse situations in families that are socially isolated or cut off from support networks that could intervene and provide help. Drug abuse may also intensify stressful parent- child relationships. In addition, parents who were abused as children are six times more likely to abuse their own children than are parents from "normal" homes. Patterns in the maltreatment of children and dangers associated with stereotyping the abuser are noted. 1 figure