Citation

Fowler J, Stockford D. Child Abuse Negl. 1979; 3(3-4): 851-856.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper is based on a descriptive study of 55 children who were placed on the Norfolk Central Record of Information in a 12 month period. The study describes (among other aspects) the parents and family environment of the children so placed. The study compares and contrasts findings with those of comparable studies, and concludes that previous studies have under-estimated the role of the father (or father-substitute) in the abuse of children, and casts some doubt on commonly held views about the relationship between non-accidental injury and (for example) pregnancy, working mothers, and over-frequent bearing of children. The paper concludes by re-emphasising the need for social workers to work with families rather than with individual parents, and stresses the unsatisfactory nature of using stereotypes of 'the problem family' in order to isolate likely child abusers.