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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this report by Bybee was to present a number of recommendations that might lead to a successful reduction in the prevalence of child abuse and neglect. These recommendations relate primarily to a social-psychological perspective.
METHODOLOGY:
The author employed a non-experimental explanatory design, to offer both recommendations for future research into understanding the problem of violence towards children, as well as recommendations directed at policy changes that could help reduce this problem. Recommendations are made in the areas of definition, incidence and prevalence, causes and consequences, and prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The author claimed that the problem of violence against children had gained much attention over the last twenty years, but that child abuse and neglect continue to be problems with which society must deal. At the same time as research into this field continues, the author suggested that policy and research priorities be revised to reduce violence against youth and to better understand child maltreatment. The author provided a number of recommendations to revise policies and to redirect research in an effort to achieve these goals.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author began with a discussion of a number of general recommendations. He suggested that child abuse laws should be amended to more clearly address issues of type, severity and frequency of abuse or neglect, as well as age of victims of such behavior. Research into this field must be systematic and have a clear theoretical base, must use sound methodologies and provide clear descriptions of samples, must develop and use clear conceptual and operational definitions of key concepts, and must use appropriate outcome criteria.
With regard to policy changes relating to definitions, the author stressed the need for clear conceptual and operational definitions of physical abuse and neglect, emotional abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse. Concept analysis of incidents should consider specific factors of the event, such as age and needs of the victim, details about the injury and about the act, family history and circumstances, status of perpetrator and victim, effects upon others not directly involved with the incident, and community standards of treatment of victims. Policy should also clearly distinguish between different degrees of severity of types of abuse, and various agencies that deal with this issue should develop their own operational definitions of abuse and neglect. Recommendations for research into definitions included studies that could differentiate abuse from punishment, including people's perceptions about abuse. Definitions of abuse and neglect found in different cultures, communities, agencies and professions should be examined, and definitions should be developed and evaluated for emotional abuse and neglect, as well as for sexual abuse. Information should be established about the cases that would be reported when laws use behavioral terms, and research is needed that would evaluate the effectiveness of definitional clarity in reducing the number of false negatives or positives reported.
Estimates of incidence of child abuse and neglect vary, with recent reports of physical abuse standing at 40,000 and estimates of children at risk reaching between 1.4 to 1.9 million. The ratio of neglect to abuse is thought to be 6:1. Periodic assessments of incidence rates need to be conducted, in order for the effects of prevention, intervention and treatment programs to be evaluated. Uniform report forms should be used across service agencies, in order to facilitate comparisons and to allow uniform statistics to be compiled. Methodological problems for research in this field have included biased information sources, varying definitions, increases in reporting to greater awareness, changes in laws relating to reporting, enforcement policies and changing patterns of family violence. Research must attempt to establish the actual incidence of physical neglect, and of emotional abuse and neglect. Differences in estimates of abuse should be examined, and the co-presence of different types of abuse and neglect should be documented. Violence should be studied over different developmental stages and ages, and research should be directed at violence toward youth in institutional or foster care.
No empirically validated model currently exists for the causes of child abuse and neglect. Policy changes should include more complex psychosocial models of abuse and neglect, beginning with the system of the family as the basic unit. Analyses and integrations of available evidence about causal factors should continue, and a more thorough understanding of the history of family violence and its relationship to cultural change is needed. Research should include multi-variate designs which involve social, psychological, cultural and interpersonal factors, and which should examine the role of major family transitions and events on abuse and neglect. Case histories should include information about the entire family, and research should examine the effects of long-term factors such as cultural values related to physical punishment. Studies should also center upon individuals' motivational needs and upon the family bonding processes.
More research is needed upon the consequences of abuse and neglect, with special attention given to psychological effects. Policy should provide for training of school personnel, school reporting of abuse and neglect, and school examinations for both physical and psychological signs of abuse. Research should examine more thoroughly the effects of abuse and neglect upon childhood development, using a broader range of assessment measures and a greater use of comparison groups. The effects of abuse and neglect at different developmental stages should be examined, and their impact upon motivational needs and social consequences should also be evaluated. Long-term follow-up studies of abused and neglected children should be conducted, including examinations of parents who were abused as children but who do not now abuse their children, or parents who were not abused but who now do abuse their offspring. Psychological consequences of abusive families upon non-abused children should be considered, as well as psychological consequences upon the perpetrator of the abuse or neglect.
Primary prevention is that directed toward the general community, in the hope of preventing abuse and neglect before it begins. Secondary prevention or intervention is aimed at a population that has been identified as possible abusers. Policy provisions should develop public awareness campaigns to educate people about child development, to disseminate information about abuse and neglect, to encourage reporting of such behaviors, to inform people about crisis services, and to make the population aware of various sources of support and health care. A network of agencies should be established to provide better access to resources, and education programs should be established to teach people about non-violent responses to children and to discuss people's own concerns about child-rearing. Campaigns should be implemented to increase professional awareness, particularly within the school system. Family support services that can reduce stress on parents could prevent child abuse and neglect, and perinatal and neonatal observations in hospitals could identify people in need of special attention who could be provided with interdisciplinary support intervention. Various treatment programs should be better coordinated, and more community support is needed for such programs. Research into the prevention and treatment of abuse and neglect should include studies about the effectiveness of public and professional awareness campaigns, and should also provide longitudinal studies about the effects of primary and secondary preventions upon rates of reported abuse and neglect. Research should be conducted into proposed and existing prevention programs, and the effectiveness of specific diagnostic and treatment programs should be examined, controlling for variations across programs. Factors to be considered in these evaluations should include personal and social variables, as well as type, duration and severity of abuse, and stage of development in which the abuse occurred. Consequences of intervention, and in particular of removing the child from the home, should also be examined.
The author concluded that society has recently made considerable progress in the area of child abuse and neglect, with increased awareness and much research giving attention to an area that was long ignored. He recommended that continued efforts on the parts of the public and professionals in the field could help to reduce the problem of violence toward youth.
EVALUATION:
The author presents a valuable paper for the field of child abuse and neglect. He directs his recommendations at specific areas of concern, and includes all facets of the problem in his discussion. Whilst a more thorough presentation of current knowledge about definitions, incidence, causes, consequences, prevention and treatment would have been helpful, overall the paper should be considered as an excellent source of ideas for future policy revisions and research priorities. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Child Abuse Causes
KW - Child Abuse Intervention
KW - Child Abuse Treatment
KW - Child Abuse Prevention
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Emotional Abuse Causes
KW - Child Emotional Abuse Prevention
KW - Child Emotional Abuse Victim
KW - Child Emotional Abuse Intervention
KW - Child Emotional Abuse Treatment
KW - Child Neglect Causes
KW - Child Neglect Prevention
KW - Child Neglect Victim
KW - Child Neglect Treatment
KW - Child Neglect Intervention
KW - Child Physical Abuse Causes
KW - Child Physical Abuse Prevention
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Child Physical Abuse Intervention
KW - Child Physical Abuse Treatment
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Causes
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Victim
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Treatment
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Intervention
KW - Child Victim
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Prevention Recommendations
KW - Treatment Recommendations
KW - Intervention Recommendations
KW - Policy Recommendations
KW - Research Recommendations
KW - Social Psychology
KW - Domestic Violence Causes
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Intervention
KW - Domestic Violence Prevention
KW - Domestic Violence Treatment
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Juvenile Development
KW - Child Development
KW - Youth Development
Language: en |