Child maltreatment: An ecological integration

Abstract

Divergent etiological viewpoints of child abuse stress psychological disturbance in parents, abuse-eliciting characteristics of children, dysfunctional patterns of family interaction, stress-inducing social forces, and abuse-promoting cultural values. A conceptual framework that integrates these viewpoints is proposed to show that much of the theoretical conflict that has characterized the study of child maltreatment is more apparent than real. The framework conceptualizes child maltreatment as a social-psychological phenomenon that is multiply determined by forces at work in the individual (ontogenic development), the family (the microsystem), the community (the exosystem), and the culture (the macrosystem) in which the individual and the family are embedded. Although the proposed framework cannot yet identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for child maltreatment to take place, it can be used to guide future empirical inquiry and to direct efforts aimed at reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1980 American Psychological Association.