Childhood history of abuse and adult child abuse potential

The experience of aversive interactions within the family of origin is believed to increase the probability of parental physical child abuse. To test this hypothesis, 375 subjects were given a Childhood History Questionnaire (CHQ) and the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory. The CHQ contained a series of questions about the presence and frequency of various abusive behaviors and associated sequelae that were received and/or observed before and/or after puberty. The CAP Inventory was used to measure adult physical child abuse potential. As expected, a childhood history of physical abuse was significantly related to adult physical child abuse potential; and, as chronicity increased, so did abuse potential. The experience of physical abuse prior to puberty produced higher abuse scores than the experience of physical abuse after puberty. The study provides preliminary data indicating the childhood experience of a caring adult and / or caring friend moderates adult child abuse potential.     

The influence of personal history of abuse and gender on clinicians' judgments of child abuse

Two extra-legal factors were examined for their influence on professionals' decisions to report child abuse: having been abused as a child oneself, and the gender of the child, the parent, and the professional. One hundred and one men and women who worked regularly with children in mental health settings rated a series of scenarios presented as cases from a protective service agency. Participants made several judgments regarding the case including the severity of the parent's behavior, the likely effect on the child, whether the situation was abusive, and whether the case should be reported to a social service agency. Despite some interpretive limitations, the results generally support the hypothesis that extra-legal factors influence the perceptions of professionals who are mandated to report a suspected incident of abuse.     

The incidence of child abuse in serial killers

Fifty serial killers who murdered for the primary goal of attaining sexual gratification, termed lust killers, were studied to determine the prevalence of childhood abuse. Information regarding the childhood abuse sustained by each killer was obtained primarily from biographical books, newspaper articles, and online sites. Abuse was categorized into physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect and was then compared to societal norms from 2001. Abuse of all types excluding neglect was significantly higher in the serial killer population. For serial killers, the prevalence of physical abuse was 36%; sexual abuse was 26%; and psychological abuse was 50%. Neglect was equally prevalent in the serial killer (18%) and societal norm populations.     

Psychosocial dynamics of child abuse

The problem of child abuse warrants steadfast social concern and attentive study by social scientists, forensic scientists, and mental health professionals. What moves adults to physically abuse children entrusted to their care? In the present inquiry, an overview of a substantial body of the literature is organized by exploring three dimensions of abuse: the parental relationship, the psychopathology of abusive parents, and the psychodynamics of motivation. None of these dimensions taken alone provides a satisfactory understanding of the phenomenon of abuse. An integrative model is offered wherein child abuse is regarded as a function of three general factors: stresses on the parent, ego weaknesses of the parent, and vectors that direct the parent's violent impulses against the child.     

Pseudoabuse--the misdiagnosis of child abuse

When a patient's problem is judged to be the result of child abuse and it is not, considerable harm may be done to the child, his parents, and the doctor-parent relationship. The case histories of 15 children who were thought to be abused are reviewed and their correct diagnoses are presented. Overdiagnosing the battered child syndrome can be as harmful as failing to consider it.     

Subgaleal hematoma in child abuse

The mother brought her 31/2-year-old son to a paediatric clinic as his forehead was swollen and bluish in appearance. She was unable to give any explanation for this lesion. Clinically it was noted that a very visible and also palpable, doughy swelling was present both in the forehead as well as the hard skull areas. Some hours later, a massive bilateral periocular haematoma appeared. Whilst X-rays were unable to provide any diagnostic help, the sonographic examination of the skull carried out on the same day revealed an extensive subgaleal haematoma. This phenomenon is described in radiological literature as "scalping" and is caused by the use of considerable, blunt violence against the head (shear stresses, e.g. by pulling at the hair). The mother's boyfriend later confessed forceful pulling of the hair.     

Intergenerational child abuse and coping

Many studies have investigated the consequences of child sexual abuse (CSA) but few have examined the intergenerational effects of poly- victimization and maladaptive coping. The purpose of this investigation was to examine patterns of maltreatment and maladaptive coping among second-generation CSA survivors. It is hypothesized that: (a) maternal CSA history would be associated with a higher incidence of poly-victimization and maladaptive coping and (b) experiencing more forms of abuse would mediate the relation between maternal CSA history and maladaptive coping behaviors. The method used was a chart review of 139 sexually abused females aged 12 to 17, examining maternal abuse history, maladaptive coping behaviors, and child maltreatment. The results showed that poly-victimization differed as a function of maternal CSA history but maladaptive coping did not. Experiencing more types of abuse was associated with both self-injurious behaviors and substance use. In conclusion, results support the hypothesis that second generation CSA survivors are more likely to experience poly-victimization. Future research should address how intergenerational patterns of abuse might affect presenting symptomatology and treatment outcome.     

The eyes of child abuse victims: autopsy findings.

The authors studied 77 pairs of eyes removed from children who had died of suspected child abuse. Forty-seven of the cases had retinal hemorrhages. Those showing retinal hemorrhages were younger children and had fewer other stigmata of child abuse. Hemorrhages are more likely to occur in cases where the child was shaken or swung than in those with severe direct head trauma. The authors recommend that examination of the eyes be included in the autopsies of all small children who died without an obvious cause of death. Experience in both processing and reading of ocular material is necessary for reliable results.     

School-based child sexual abuse prevention programs

Early prevention education training has been advocated by scholars and practitioners to intervene with children and youth who have been or are being sexually abused as well as to prevent sexual abuse from occurring. This study identified and surveyed major school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs in the country. Results obtained from 126 prevention programs indicated that most programs are conducted at a local level; that together they reach hundreds of thousands of students, parents, teachers, and other school staff; and that they offer a prescribed curriculum and resource materials. Nearly two-thirds receive state funding assistance, with less than a third charging the schools. Most were established in the early and mid 1980s and have well-educated staff. Further, most work to meet the needs of disabled students and provide means for disclosure of sexual abuse. Training format, duration, and materials vary.This study was supported by Grant #5083B80014, Womens Educational Equity Act Program, U.S. Department of Education.     

The correlation of childhood physical abuse history and later abuse in a group of Turkish population

Domestic violence is passed from one generation to the next, and it affects not only the victim but also the psychological states of the witnesses, and especially the psychosocial development of children. Studies have reported that those who have been the victim of or witnessing violence during their childhood will use violence to a greater extent as adults in their own families. This research examines the relationships between a history of childhood physical abuse, likelihood of psychiatric diagnoses, and potential for being a perpetrator of childhood physical abuse in adulthood among women who received psychiatric treatment and in the healthy population from Turkey. Estimates of the prevalence of childhood physical abuse vary depending on definition and setting. The frequency of witnessing and undergoing physical abuse within the family during childhood is much higher in the psychiatrically disordered group than the healthy controls. Childhood physical abuse history is one of the major risk factors for being an abuser in adulthood. The best indicator of physically abusing one's own children was found to be as physical abuse during the childhood period rather than psychiatric diagnosis. There is a large body of research indicating that adults who have been abused as children are more likely to abuse their own children than adults without this history. This is an important study from the point of view that consequences of violence can span generations. Further studies with different risk factor and populations will help to identify different dimensions of the problem.     

Decision-making in child abuse and neglect

Social attachment theory can be of value in examining the wide variety of abuse and neglect situations that come to the attention of authorities. We consider evaluation of the parent-child relationship as a crucial part of the judicial process. We have suggested parameters that can be used to evaluate the relationship. We have outlined some of the more common distortions in this relationship that have, in our experience, been associated with the mistreatment of children. The use of social attachment theory has been of great help in understanding the emotional reactions of the many children we have seen for evaluation and treatment. The theory also serves as a potential guide for improvements in social policy. If we are more sensitive to the psychological world of these children, we will be better able to truly protect them.     

The impact of stress on cognitive components of child abuse potential

The purpose of the present research was to test the effects of situational stress on the components of the cognitive behavioral model, including expectations, interpretations, and behavioral responses to child behaviors (Twentyman et al., 1985). It was predicted that parental abuse potential would be positively related to inappropriate expectations, to negative and internally caused interpretations of child behavior, and to negative parental responses. Second, it was expected that interpretations and responses would be more negative as child abuse potential increased. Sixteen mothers from a child abuse prevention and treatment program completed the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Milner and Wimberly, 1980) and provided interpretations, evaluations, and responses to a set of vignettes depicting normal child behaviors. The data supported the hypotheses. As abuse potential increased, parent responses were judged as more controlling, punishing, rejecting, and aroused. High stress strengthened the magnitude of these responses. These findings were interpreted within the context of a cognitive behavioral model.     

Containing the secret of child sexual abuse

This study reports a grounded theory study of the process of how children tell of their experiences of child sexual abuse from the perspectives of young people and their parents. Individual interviews were conducted with 22 young people aged 8 to 18, and 14 parents. A theoretical model was developed that conceptualises the process of disclosure as one of containing the secret of child sexual abuse. Three key dynamics were identified: the active withholding of the secret on the part of the child, the experience of a 'pressure cooker effect' reflecting a conflict between the wish to tell and the wish to keep the secret, and the confiding itself which often occurs in the context of an intimacy being shared. Children's experiences of disclosure were multidetermined and suggest the need for multifaceted and multisystemic approaches to prevention and intervention. The need for the secret to be contained, individually and interpersonally in appropriate safeguarding and therapeutic contexts needs to be respected in helping children tell.     

Undetected and detected child sexual abuse and child pornography offenders

Current knowledge about risk factors for child sexual abuse and child pornography offenses is based on samples of convicted offenders, i.e., detected offenders. Only few studies focus on offenders not detected by the criminal justice system. In this study, a sample of 345 self-referred pedophiles and hebephiles was recruited from the community. All participants met DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia or hebephilia (paraphilia not otherwise specified), were assured of confidentiality, and self-reported lifetime sexual offending against prepubescent and/or pubescent children. Two sets of group comparisons were conducted on self-report data of risk factors for sexual reoffending. Measures of risk factors address the following dimensions identified in samples of convicted offenders: sexual preferences (i.e. co-occurring paraphilias), sexual self-regulation problems, offense-supportive cognitions, diverse socio-affective deficits, and indicators of social functioning (e.g., education, employment). Men who admitted current or previous investigation or conviction by legal authorities (detected offenders) were compared with those who denied any detection for their sexual offenses against children (undetected offenders). Group comparisons (detected vs. undetected) were further conducted for each offense type separately (child pornography only offenders, child sexual abuse only offenders, mixed offenders). Although there were more similarities between undetected and detected offenders, selected measures of sexual-self regulation problems, socio-affective deficits, and social functioning data demonstrated group differences.     

The use of random sampling in investigations involving child abuse material

This paper presents a methodology which has been used to address two ubiquitous problems of practising digital forensics in law enforcement, the ever increasing data volume and staff exposure to disturbing material. It discusses how the New South Wales Police Force, State Electronic Evidence Branch (SEEB) has implemented a “Discovery Process”. Using random sampling of files and applying statistical estimation to the results, the branch has been able to reduce backlogs from three months to 24 h. The process has the added advantage of reducing staff exposure to child abuse material and providing the courts with an easily interpreted report. The software portion of the Discovery process is contained within the framework of Guidance software's forensic tool, EnCase^©. This is then further customised for the Discovery process by using the EnCase EnScript^© language.     

The correlates of child physical abuse and neglect by adolescent mothers

Theoretical and empirical knowledge about the link between adolescent motherhood and child maltreatment is in an early stage of development. Research has produced contradictory findings as to a relationship between the two and has not focused on identifying correlates. To fill gaps in the knowledge base and generate hypotheses for future tests, this secondary analysis of data on a subset of 119 mothers who gave birth prior to their 18th birthday focused on identifying characteristics that discriminate among low-income adolescent mothers with maltreated children and comparable mothers whose children were not known to be maltreated. Bivariate analyses of 18 characteristics from several theoretically justified domains revealed that 11 were associated with neglect and four with abuse. Step-sise discriminant analysis identified six correlates of neglect that correctly classified 85% of the mothers and four for abuse that correctly classified 79% of the mothers. Discussion focuses on implications for future research and hypothesis generation.