NCJ Number
128777
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 82-97
Date Published
1991
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article examines the shift in priorities in the child abuse field from treatment to prevention, selectively examines treatment approaches, discusses key research and programmatic issues, and offers suggestions for future directions.
Abstract
Greater emphasis on early intervention/prevention approaches may be linked to the ineffectiveness of federally funded physical abuse programs between 1974 and 1982, the publication of major prevention review articles, successful early intervention efforts reported by Wolfe and Manion, a legislative mandate to target prevention efforts, and the availability of prevention-oriented grant monies. The progression from a focus on the investigation of physical abuse to an emphasis on addressing child sexual abuse is apparent in the content of articles published in "Child Abuse and Neglect" from 1979 to the present. Treatment approaches for abusers have involved social learning strategies; ecobehavioral perspectives (an examination of behaviors in the contexts in which they occur); family-centered, home-based treatment that is based on an ecological model that targets familial and larger social contexts for intervention; and multisystemic therapy which focuses on changes in the interactions between behaviors and environmental stimuli. Future directions that can enhance the development of and emphasis on treatment for abusers are discussed. 1 table and 47 references