PARENTAL MISTREATMENT - PERPETRATORS AND VICTIMS

• NCJ Number: 50693
• Journal: Journal of Marriage and the Family Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: SPECIAL ISSUE (NOVEMBER 1971) Pages: 649-657
• Author(s): J M GIOVANNONI
• Date Published: 1971
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): PR-1100-C3
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Corporate Author: National Council on Family Relations
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

ABUSIVE AND NONABUSIVE PARENTS ARE COMPARED IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSITION THAT PARENTAL MISTREATMENT RESULTS FROM NOXIOUS SOCIAL FORCES IMPINGING ON FAMILIES.

Abstract

PARENTAL MISTREATMENT OF CHILDREN IS ONE FORM OF FAMILIAL VIOLENCE. THERE ARE TWO RECOGNIZED FORMS OF MISTREATMENT, ABUSE AND NEGLECT. ABUSIVE ACTS ARE ACTS OF COMMISSION, RESULTING IN HARM TO CHILDREN; NEGLECTFUL ACTS ARE ACTS OF OMISSION THAT HAVE NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON CHILDREN. IN TERMS OF RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN THE PARENTAL ROLE, ABUSE IS AN EXPLOITATION OF THE RIGHTS OF PARENTS TO CONTROL, DISCIPLINE, AND PUNISH THEIR CHILDREN. NEGLECT REPRESENTS FAILURE TO PERFORM PARENTAL DUTIES, INCLUDING THOSE OF SUPERVISION, NURTURANCE, AND PROTECTION. CASES SELECTED FOR INCLUSION IN ONE STUDY WERE DRAWN FROM TWO PUBLIC WELFARE DEPARTMENTS AND CONSISTED OF 103 PHYSICAL ABUSE CASES, 153 NEGLECT CASES, AND 242 CASES THAT INVOLVED ADEQUATE CARE FOR CHILDREN. ON ALL MEASURES OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, ABUSIVE PARENTS HAD HIGHER STATUS POSITIONS AND WERE MOST LIKELY TO HAVE HIGHER INCOMES. SIGNIFICANTLY MORE NEGLECTFUL PARENTS SCORED LOWER ON THESE INDEXES. IN ANOTHER STUDY, IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT NEGLECTFUL MOTHERS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER INCOMES AND FEWER OF THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE THAN DID NONNEGLECTFUL MOTHERS. BOTH ABUSE AND NEGLECT ARE HANDLED THROUGH THE SAME COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS FROM A MANAGEMENT STANDPOINT. MECHANISMS FOR HANDLING PARENTAL MISTREATMENT INCLUDE JUVENILE COURTS, PROBATION, AND SPECIALIZED PROTECTIVE SOCIAL WORK SERVICES. POOR FAMILIES GENERALLY HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO COMMUNITY SUPPORTIVE SERVICES. A NUMBER OF THE SUPPORTIVE SERVICES TO WHICH THEY DID HAVE ACCESS WERE INADEQUATE IN PROVIDING SERVICES RELATED TO MATERNAL AND INFANT CARE. HISTORICAL EVENTS CONTRIBUTING TO THE GROWING CONCERN FOR CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES ARE REVIEWED, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)