Understanding and Preventing Child Abuse in Urban Settings (From Violence and Childhood in the Inner City, P 207-255, 1997, Joan McCord, ed. - See NCJ-172275)

• NCJ Number: 172281
• Author(s): F Earls; J Barnes
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 49 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This analysis of child abuse causes and prevention in the context of urban poverty concludes that reversing the trend toward deteriorating urban environments is of basic importance in efforts to control violence against children and to reduce the number of children growing up with a vulnerability to becoming aggressive and violent themselves.

Abstract

The discussion combines an ecological theory of human development with public health strategies for assessment and intervention. It covers definitions of child abuse and neglect, negative consequences and developmental mechanisms, and treatment and preventive interventions at the community or neighborhood level. A neighborhood program in North Dorchester in Boston exemplifies this approach. Its neighborhood-based multiservice center provides a continuum of services to strengthen families. These include a food pantry, clothing, home health visiting, a family nurturing program, family literacy, respite care, and referrals to the social services. An evaluation has been designed to determine the degree to which the intervention's beneficial effects actually permeate the neighborhood over time. Approximately 200 references