The Developmental Psychopathology of Child Maltreatment

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a complex, insidious problem that, although predominant in impoverished families (Pelton, 1978), cuts across all sectors of society. The American Association for Protecting Children (1986) tallied 1,727,000 reports of suspected child maltreatment in 1984. Forty two percent of these reports were substantiated. A national survey reported that 10.7% of parents admitted to having perpetrated a “severe violent act” against their child in the previous year (Straus & Gelles, 1986), and prevalence rates of sexual abuse have been estimated to be as high as 62% for girls and 31% for boys (Dubowitz, 1986). The economic and human costs of maltreatment in American society are astronomical. It is likely that billions of dollars are spent in treatment and social service costs and are lost in lessened productivity for a generation of maltreated children (Dubowitz, 1986).