Theories of Child Abuse and Neglect: Differential Perspectives, Summaries, and Evaluations

This volume was designed for those in academic institutions and clinical and social services to serve as a comprehensive introduction to the diverse theories about child abuse and neglect etiologies. Although history documents maltreatment of children since the beginning of human civilization, formal recognition of the problem has been relatively recent. During the past three decades, professionals in various fields, especially medicine, psychiatry, social work, law, sociology and psychology, have been involved in the identification, treatment and prevention of child victimization and its detrimental consequences. In studying the aetiology of child maltreatment, many theoretical viewpoints have been proposed in the literature and used for clinical practice as well as academic research. The current work represents a comprehensive evaluation and integration of diverse theorizations concerning the abuse and neglect of children. The authors have compliled more than 40 theories, models and perspectives from the literature. As the subtitle suggests, they describe individual theories and summarize across different theoretical views and evaluate the current status of those theorizations. This volume is intended for three distinct audiences: practitioners, researchers and the general public. Clinical practitioners should find it a source of strategies that can be applied in clinical settings. By documenting the absence of comprehensive, multidisciplinary-oriented theory development, it aims to encourage researchers toward refining existing theories through integration with other theoretical perspectives. For the general public, it should provide insight into a troubling social problem.