Child Abuse in a Disciplinary Context: A Typology of Violent Family Environments

The objectives of this study were to identify and validate types of violent family environments based on child abuse in a disciplinary context. The study is original in that it simultaneously takes into account the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of the parental role as it relates to the degree of family violence in a child??s life. Cluster analyses were performed on a representative sample of 3,148 families. The Abusive profile applied to families who reported at least one severe assault on a child within the past year. This profile also had the highest levels of domestic violence, psychological aggression, and corporal punishment. The Harsh profile is nevertheless similar to the Abusive profile, despite the fact that these families reported no severe assault. The key difference is the lower score levels: the attributes are the same, but less intense. The Nonabusive profile accounted for the families with the lowest rates of domestic and parental violence, together with a negative attitude towards corporal punishment and a heightened awareness of the consequences of violence. Although the families who matched the Paradoxical profile reported very little violence, they are the least aware of the consequences of violence and the most in favor of corporal punishment. The four profiles were replicated with another cluster analysis performed on an independent representative sample of 2,465 families. Then the profiles were compared with regard to the variables used to create the clusters and other variables theoretically associated with the appearance of maltreatment. These validation methods enhance the credibility of the proposed typology.