Book Review “Early Prediction and Prevention of Child Abuse”

Abstract

Reviews the book "Early prediction and prevention of child abuse--A handbook" that is a new and updated version of a book published in 1988 on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in the early pioneering days of child abuse research. It is interesting to note that the prevalence of child abuse has decreased over this time as several countries started to collect data on child abuse regularly. The writing is influenced by Uri Bronfenbrenner's book on the ecology of human development. The chapter by David Olds et al from Colorado is especially liked, where he wrote about his last 24 years of research on the home visits of nurses. He provides an evidence base for early intervention whereby nurses visit homes during a woman's pregnancy and throughout the child's infancy. The book is of value for a range of professionals, both in research and clinical practice, as well as policy makers and managers working in the fields of child protection, child and human development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)