The purpose of this research is to examine the literature on the prevention of child abuse. To this end, the research is covered in three broad categories: (1) Models of child abuse; (2) Prevention Programs; and (3) Outcomes of prevention programs.
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1973 defined child abuse and neglect as follows:
Child abuse and neglect means the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, neglect treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of eighteen by a person who is responsible for the child's welfare under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened thereby...
The amended act of 1974 defines sexual abuse as follows:
The obscene or pornographic photographing, filming or depiction of children for commercial purposes, or the rape, molestation, incest, prostitution, or other such forms of sexual exploitation of children under circumstances which indicate that the children's health or welfare is harmed or threatened thereby. (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1979).
Several models of child abuse have been constructed. The psychological/psychodynamic model (see:Friedrich & Wheeler, 1982; Kempe & Kempe, 1978; Twentyman & Plotkin, 1982) holds that abuse parents are people with a history of parental loss, rejection, and abuse. This history leaves these parents with unmet needs which, unrealistically, they expect their child to satisfy or fulfill. When these needs are not met by the child. the abusive parent interprets this as rejection and therefore he or she experiences a dispositional state for abusive behavior. Prevention efforts based on the psychodynamic model tend to focus on therapeutic interventions aimed at resolving conflicts regarding parents' unmet needs.
A second model of child abuse is the sociological model (see: Kempe & Kempe, 1978; Sabzinger, Kaplan & Artemeyer, 1983; Warren, 1981). This model holds that abusiv...