NCJ Number
228292
Journal
Future of Children Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2009 Pages: 19-38
Date Published
2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article outlines developments in the field of child maltreatment and proposes a new framework for preventing child abuse and neglect.
Abstract
Prevention efforts increasingly aim to strengthen the capacity of parents and communities to care for their children in ways that promote well-being. In a field ready to experiment more broadly and to learn more about the range of approaches to preventing maltreatment, new approaches increasingly appear to reflect the investment-prevention paradigm. They are focused on recognizing and strengthening protective factors, building social networks, maintaining awareness of family and community contexts, integrating professionals and natural helpers into the everyday lives of families. They are intensifying system approaches by stepping outside of traditional service roles and aspects of the child welfare system. In systematically testing such approaches, the field of child maltreatment prevention will have a greater impact on families by reducing the severe consequences of child maltreatment. This article sets forth a framework for prevention of child maltreatment and explores how child maltreatment policy has developed in its support of prevention. Research findings are reviewed on the consequences of child maltreatment, the risk factors for maltreatment, and the theoretical perspectives that connect causes to possible interventions. The article concludes by surveying some types of interventions that fit this developing framework on prevention. 80 endnotes