Breaking the intergenerational transmission of child abuse: Beyond the mother-child relationship

Studies comparing abusive and non-abusive parents who were abused as children are reviewed to determine protective factors that may lead to a break in the transmission pattern. Non-abusers have several factors in common. For instance: they have extensive emotional and social support from significant others. they are aware of what happened to them as children and are openly angry about their abuse. and many of them received (psycho)therapy as adolescents or young adults. Discovering protective factors by which some parents overcome a family pattern of abuse is valuable in guiding both prevention and intervention efforts. A brief discussion of the influence of methodological variations of different studies on reported transmission rates precedes the review. Furthermore. attention is given to the underrepresentation of (abusive) fathers in theory as well as in research on child abuse. The effects of undervaluation of gender differences are discussed in terms of their importance in the occurrence and (breaks in the) transmission of child abuse.     

Parental Discipline and Abuse Potential Affects on Child Depression,Anxiety, and Attributions

The current study investigated differences in children's emotional functioning as a product of their parents' reported disciplinary practices and child abuse potential. Families with no known history of abuse were recruited to ascertain whether depressogenic attributional style and depressive or anxious symptomatology was evident in children of parents who used harsher physical punishment and who had higher abuse potential. Forty‐two New Zealand children ages 8–12 participated with their parents. Child‐report measures of depression, anxiety, and attributional style were compared with parents' responses on physical discipline scenarios and child abuse potential. Children's anxiety symptoms were higher in those children whose parents obtained higher abuse potential scores and had harsher discipline practices. Children's depressive symptoms and some components of maladaptive attributional style were also found in families with higher abuse potential. Results suggest emotional difficulties similar to those of maltreated children even without identifiable abuse.     

Patterns of Competence and Adjustment Among Adolescents from Authoritative,Authoritarian, Indulgent,and Neglectful Homes: A Replication in a Sample of Serious Juvenile Offenders

The correlates of authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful parenting were examined within a sample of 1,355 14‐ to 18‐year‐olds adjudicated of serious criminal offenses. The sample is composed primarily of poor, ethnic‐minority youth living in impoverished urban neighborhoods. As has been found in community samples, juvenile offenders who describe their parents as authoritative are more psychosocially mature, more academically competent, less prone to internalized distress, and less prone to externalizing problems than their peers, whereas those who describe their parents as neglectful are less mature, less competent, and more troubled. Juvenile offenders who characterize their parents as either authoritarian or indulgent typically score somewhere between the two extremes, although those from authoritarian homes are consistently better functioning than those from indulgent homes. These patterns did not vary as a function of adolescents' ethnicity or gender.     

Attitudes towards and the practice of discipline amongst parents of pre‐school children in Nottingham

This study investigates parents' attitudes towards the disciplining of young children, and compares their beliefs about discipline to their actual practice of behaviour management. Data have been collected from a sample of parents whose children are attending Nottinghamshire nursery schools using self‐report questionnaires. Only one quarter of respondents agree that smacking is the appropriate way to handle the unsafe behaviour of a three year old child, and many of the sample recognise that parents who smack their children may face repercussions from social services and the courts. However almost two thirds of the sample had smacked their pre‐school child in the past week. Parents who endorse the use of non‐coercive management techniques smack their children as well. These results suggest that initiatives to promote positive discipline may not be sufficient in themselves to reduce the physical punishment of children. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Abusers gaining custody in family courts: A case series of over turned decisions

Abstract

This article presents findings and recommendations based on an in-depth examination of records from 27 custody cases from across the United States. The goal of this case series was to determine why family courts may place children with a parent that the child alleges abused them rather than with the nonoffending parent. We focused on “turned around cases” involving allegations of child abuse that were at first viewed as false and later judged to be valid. The average time a child spent in the court ordered custody of an abusive parent was 3.2?years. In all cases we uncovered the father was the abusive parent and the mother sought to protect their child. Results revealed that initially courts were highly suspicious of mothers' motives for being concerned with abuse. These mothers were often treated poorly and two-thirds of the mothers were pathologized by the court for advocating for the safety of their children. Judges who initially ordered children into custody or visitation with abusive parents relied mainly on reports by custody evaluators and guardians ad litem who mistakenly accused mothers of attempting to alienate their children from the father or having coached the child to falsely report abuse. As a result, 59% of perpetrators were given sole custody and the rest were given joint custody or unsupervised visitation. After failing to be protected in the first custody determination, 88% of children reported new incidents of abuse. The abuse often became increasingly severe and the children's mental and physical health frequently deteriorated. The main reason that cases turned around was because protective parents were able to present compelling evidence of the abuse and back the evidence up with reports by mental health professionals who had specific expertise in child abuse rather than merely custody assessment.     

Child physical-sexual abuse: The role of sadism the role of sexuality

Abstract

Starting from several examples of clinical material, the author proposes an understanding of the mental functioning of a physically and/or sexually abusive parent. He bases his theoretical reflection on two analytical concepts: narcissism and perversion Relating the sadistic instinct to the former and the sexual instinct to the latter, he discerns two modes of functioning which have some points in common and some diverging points, but which show the dynamics involved in physical and sexual child abuse.

The relationship distinguished between the type of emotional relationship between the parents and the type of their emotional investment of their child allows us to understand how the complicity of the parents works against the child.

This approach to the functioning of the physically and/or sexually abusive parent implicitly gives an insight into the structuring of the personality of the child-victim, who in turn undergoes the risk of becoming a physically and/or sexually abusive parent with his own children.     

Parenting Style and Adolescent Externalizing Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

This longitudinal study was conducted with 262 adolescents (M age = 15.3) and their parents to examine adolescent respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; baseline and reactivity) as a moderator of the relationship between parenting style and adolescent externalizing behaviors. This was conceptualized within the differential susceptibility to the environment framework, which proposes that children with greater sensitivity to environmental influences benefit more from supportive environments but are at greater risk in averse environments. In this study, low RSA baseline was associated with greater susceptibility. In confirmation of hypotheses, males with low RSA baseline had the most externalizing behaviors when mother or father authoritative parenting was low or when mother authoritarian parenting was high. Contrary to hypotheses, females with greater RSA reactivity (high susceptibility) did more poorly when authoritarian parenting was low or authoritative parenting was high. Differential gender socialization and the task used to elicit RSA reactivity are suggested reasons for gender differences.     

Foster children's views of their birth parents: A review of the literature

Several bodies of research, theory, and practice document that even maltreated children develop and maintain attachment relationships with their parents. While this attachment can confound clinicians, it can be understood from an evolutionary perspective: Attachments – even with abusive parents – increase the survival of the species by ensuring that dependent infants and children in danger will seek proximity and comfort from a caregiving adult. Despite the phenomenon being well documented, a missing piece from the literature is whether children – who have alternative caregiving options – will still express attachment to their maltreating parent. To address this question, 27 studies in which children currently in foster care were interviewed were coded for presence/absence of three expressions of attachment: (1) Yearning for the birth parents (2) fear and anxiety due to separation from the birth parents and (3) minimization of the maltreatment perpetrated against them by the birth family. We also asked whether, despite the presence of attachment, maltreated children would express relief upon removal from the home of the birth parent. Most of the studies reported that at least some children expressed these four related beliefs, providing important insight for clinicians working with maltreated children.     

Helping foster parents cope with separation, loss, and grief

Major changes in planning for children in foster care have resulted in significant changes in the roles of and expectations for foster parents, accompanied by even less attention to the issues of foster families' grief and loss. This article focuses on (1) the many ways foster parents encounter loss and grief on a continuous basis; (2) factors that affect the intensity of the loss and the healthy expression and resolution of grief; (3) problems that can result when the grief of foster parents is not adequately addressed; and (4) ways in which professionals can be helpful to these caregivers around loss and grief.     

The behavior of the battered child: A behavioral deficiency syndrome resulting from developmental interferences and reactive learning

Behavioral observation of battered children reveals a generalized syndrome consisting of apathy, social isolation, emotional constriction, aggression, and intellectual, motor and language retardation. This syndrome is considered to be a ‘behavioral deficiency syndrome.’ Developmental interference imposed by abusive parents upon the child, and subsequent reactive learning by the child are discussed as etiological factors in the development of this syndrome. Implication of these etiological factors for therapy of the abusive family are also discussed.     

The Perceptions of Mothers of Sons with ADHD

This article describes mothers' own reports of bringing up a son diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The effects of this widely misunderstood condition on the child, the family, and the wider social network (including medical and education systems) are many and complex. Although there is evidence for a biological basis for this condition, ADHD symptoms are also seen in children of abusive, or other disordered parenting. Children showing ADHD symptoms are often seen to be undisciplined, and their parents assumed to be either abusive or overindulgent. Many problems suffered by these families, particularly the mothers, may be due to the confusion of these two aetiologies. Rather than being seen as suffering from brain dysfunction, children are responded to with generalised social disapproval and ultimately ostracism. The article will describe the effects of the behavioural symptomatology as it influences the thinking, in accordance with the beliefs of casual observers, about its underlying causes.     

Aggression and depression among abused and non-abused children in foster care

This study compared the aggressive coping behaviors and depressive reactions among 30 physically abused and 30 non-abused children in foster care. Multiple regression analysis identified experiencing abusive parenting, affective mood depressive themes, and school performance as accounting for 63 percent of the variance in overt aggressive behavior within the sample. The abused children connected the reasons for placement with their own behavior; the non-abused children, with a crisis event. The findings support the need for differential foster care programming for children placed in care.     

Coming to terms with sexual abuse: a day care perspective

SUMMARY. Pre-five establishments are increasingly identifying or having to admit children who have suffered from sexual abuse. The feelings that sexual abuse arouse in staff., their need for support and praise in managing the children's needs, the angry and abusive parents and families, and the conflict between the various agencies in child protection requires some consideration. This article offers an insight into a group of nursery workers' efforts to come to terms with identifying abuse, understanding their right to express feelings and acknowledge anger and disgust and their attempt to integrate a preventive approach in the nursery curriculum     

Are At-Risk Parents Getting What They Need? Perspectives of Parents Involved with Child Protective Services

This qualitative study explores the perspective of 24 parents who were at risk for having their children placed in foster care but ultimately retained custody of their children. We asked participants to reflect on their parenting needs prior to Child and Protective Services involvement and if and/or how they implemented parent education skills post-intervention. Parents most frequently cited stressors such as financial strain and single parenthood as contributing factors associated with their involvement with the child welfare system. Many parents stated that they wanted help with their parenting practices and provided their thoughts about time-out and physical punishment. Implications include assessing parental stress at the onset of services, seeking to understand the unique needs of families, evaluating the impact of length of time services are offered, and helping parents utilize age-appropriate discipline strategies.     

Extending the Intergenerational Stake Hypothesis: Evidence of an Intra‐individual Stake and Implications for Well‐being

The intergenerational stake hypothesis suggests that parents are more invested in their children and experience better quality parent–child ties than do their children. In this study the authors examined variation in reports of relationship quality regarding parents and children intra‐individually (do people report better quality ties with their children than with their parents?) and whether within‐person variations have implications for well‐being. Participants age 40–60 (N = 633) reported on their relationship quality (importance, positive quality, and negative quality) with their parents and adult children. Individuals reported their relationships with children were more important and more negative than relationships with parents. Individuals with feelings that were in the opposite direction of the intergenerational stake hypothesis (i.e., greater investment in parents than children) reported poorer well‐being. The findings provide support for the intergenerational stake hypothesis with regard to within‐person variations in investment and show that negative relationship quality may coincide with greater feelings of investment.     

Adolescents’ Perceived Parenting Styles and Their Substance Use: Concurrent and Longitudinal Analyses

The relation between parenting style and adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, hashish, and amphetamines) was examined concurrently (at age 14) for licit drug use and longitudinally (from age 14 to 17) for both licit and illicit drug use in a sample of 347 youth from compulsory schools in Reykjavik, Iceland. After controlling for adolescent perceptions of parental and peer use, own previous use, and gender, results indicated that adolescents who characterized their parents as authoritative were more protected against substance use than adolescents who perceived their parents as neglectful, both concurrently and longitudinally. Compared with adolescents who characterized their parents as authoritative and neglectful, those from authoritarian and indulgent families each showed a different pattern of substance use both with regard to the type of substance and over time in a longer term perspective.     

I Trust You with My Child: Parental Attitudes to Local Authorities in Cases of Disobedient Children in 18th Century Denmark

During the 18^th century, a series of new institutions appeared in the provinces of Denmark. Their purpose was to discipline beggars and vagrants and to teach them not only to work, but also the Word of God. These tugt workhouses also became institutions for the reform of disobedient children behaving in an “un-Christian” manner. Children were often placed here at the initiative of their parents. The article argues that the trust placed by parents in the state authorities in this way can be understood within the framework of Luther's social teaching, especially his doctrine of the three estates and the understanding of the nature of authority and of mutual obligation that is represented there.     

Consequences of an abusive system and possibilities of breaking the cycle

The totalitarian system in Romania survived for 45 years through generalized and repeated cycles of physical and mental abuse directed towards the population as a whole. Today's parents show all the signs of abuse, from denial, minimizing, rationalizing and selective memory to anger, fear and shame. They are also experiencing the aftereffects of abuse, such as suspicion, resentment, hopelessness, low self-esteem and the tendency to continue the abusive cycle. The parents and educators, who represent the essential part of a child's small universe and who should be able to shelter them from the effects of economic depression and lack of certitude and security which characterize the transition period, have all been victims of abuse. The abusive cycle is difficult to break, because one of the ways of survival and self-protection during the past communist regime was acceptance, compliance and lack of change. The paper presents some of the positive steps which could break the abusive cycle, such as: confession, physical and mental separation from the past, designating the guilty and a positive attitude towards oneself and towards society. These steps could help the adult to handle more easily the sad realities of the transition period and to reduce the impact of its unhealthy climate on children.     

Are There Gender-based Effects for an Educational Program for Parents of Adolescents With Risk Behaviors?

The goals of this study were to evaluate the gender-based effectiveness of the parental intervention of the Suspertu (“recovery” in English) prevention program for adolescents with risk behaviors in Spain. The sample included 229 parents (105 fathers and 124 mothers). One open-label trial with repeated measures was used. Parents received a family therapy and a group education. The intervention improved parents’ authoritative parenting style, decreasing the degree of parental stress and reducing parent’s psychopathological symptoms and maladjustment. Improvement in both groups (fathers and mothers) was mainly observed from pre- to post-intervention assessment. According to the results, prevention programs for adolescents with risk behaviors may be a suitable context both to teach parents to deal appropriately with their children’s risk behaviors, and to improve parent’s psychological state.