No description available.

Child abuse is a significant contemporary community problem. Child abuse authorities are divided over the question of whether public intervention in the child abuse problem should be executed by law enforcement or social services agencies. Many jurisdictions, such as Multnomah County, Oregon, reflect this basic disagreement by authorizing the involvement of both of these agencies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between what happens to child abuse victims, their families, and the perpetrators and the community agency - law enforcement or social services (the Children's Services Division)-which investigated the case. Data were collected from the population of child abuse reports originating from Multnomah County between September, 1975 and January, 1977. These data included:(1) the pertinent demographic characteristics of the study population; (2) the community sources that reported the suspected abuse; (3) the agencies that received and investigated those reports; and (4) the disposition of the cases. In order to test the study hypothesis, the investigating agency was related to the disposition of the child abuse cases. The study data indicated that the disposition of reported child abuse was related to the agency which investigated the cases. Specifically, the cases investigated by a law enforcement agency compared with the Children's Services Division were more likely to result in the removal of the victims from their home. In contrast, social service referrals for their families and community action directed to the perpetrators were more likely when the cases were investigated by the Children's Services Division compared to a law enforcement agency. When the cases were investigated jointly by the Children's Services Division and a law enforcement agency, the abuse victims were most likely to be separated from their families, the families were most likely to be referred for social services, and community action was most likely to be directed to the perpetrators. Since disposition may be directly related to characteristics of the study population, the relationship between disposition and investigating agency was controlled for these characteristics. The controlled analysis of the data generally confirmed the findings of the study, but revealed that (1) disposition was directly associated with certain characteristics of the population and (2) the relationship between disposition and investigating agency was modified by several characteristics. These findings, however, are largely harmonized to the general study findings when interpreted in light of the structure of the community's child abuse "system" and the interrelationships among the characteristics of the population. The study findings lead to the conclusion that a choice of agencies to investigate child abuse reports results in differential, and perhaps unequal treatment of child abuse victims, their families and the perpetrators.

No description available.

Previous research regarding the biosocial approach to aggression suggests that the interaction between biological and environmental variables contribute to aggression. However, this particular relationship has not yet been fully explored in children. Therefore, this study examined the moderating influence of psychophysiological activity, particularly resting heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV), on the relationship between child abuse potential (CAP) and child reactive and proactive aggression. Thirty-six children, between the ages of 7 and 13, and their parents were recruited from the local schools and community in Southwestern Virginia. Parents completed self-report measures for child abuse potential (CAP) and the type of aggression displayed by their children (i.e., reactive or proactive). Children were assessed for resting HR and HRV for four minutes during a rest period. CAP was related to increased proactive (i.e., instrumental) and reactive (i.e., hostile) aggression in children with low levels of resting HR. CAP was also related to increased proactive aggression in children with high resting HRV. Significant main effects were not found for CAP or psychophysiological functioning, indicating the importance of examining the interaction of these variables. Taken together, the findings suggest the existence of an interaction of these two biological and social variables above and beyond their individual influences as risk factors. The role of cardiovascular underarousal in relation to proactive and reactive aggression in abused children is discussed. Overall, this study supports the notion of a biosocial interaction for aggression in children, and thus has implications for future research and treatment. / Master of Science

The current study aimed to test the long-term impact of abuse on immune functioning and to test the mediating role of interpersonal problems in the relationship between early child abuse experiences and immune functioning. A sample of 89 undergraduate adult women (M age = 19.24) completed reports of child abuse histories, interpersonal problems, and negative life events, and provided saliva samples to measure Secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and antibody level for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1-sIgA). Participants were divided into three abuse history groups (i.e., no history of abuse, child physical abuse, child sexual abuse). The results failed to support the proposed mediation models. Age and recent unwanted sexual experiences, but not childhood abuse, were associated with reduced sIgA levels. The non-abused group evidenced a higher proportion of participants with detectable HSV-1-sIgA compared to the child physical abuse and child sexual abuse groups. In those with detectable HSV-1-sIgA, both abuse groups appeared to have higher levels, but this needs to be tested in future research with larger sample sizes. These findings suggest that the impact of victimization on sIgA may be more short-lived, while child abuse may be associated with a greater HSV-1 recurrence from latency. Future studies should examine other psychosocial predictors of immune level differences. / Master of Science

The maltreatment of children has been recorded in history as early as the first century B.C. when weak and infirm children of the Ceylonese were reported to tarnish the rest of the healthy population and were put to death. The medical implications of child maltreatment however, have been recognized for less than a century. Pioneered by John Caffey in 1946, the advances in medical science technology and the education of the medical community have served as an infallible ally against abuse. Early studies reported a direct correlation between infants with reported subdural hematomas also having unreported long bone fractures. These undeniable correlations lead to a trend in the investigations on the mechanisms of non-accidental injuries and their manifested outcomes. Certain injuries when unsupported by appropriate history, or the presence of multiple injuries in different stages of healing, warrant specific investigations and should raise suspicion of abuse. In addition to clinical and medical evaluation, a physical evaluation of height and weight may indicate overall health. This thesis will research, through a literature review of published sources and exploratory data analysis, the effects of child maltreatment on the juvenile skeleton.

Validated reports of sexually abused children from 1975 through 1977 were examined. Considered were the victim's age, sex, ethnic group, type of abuse, living arrangement, and relationship to perpetrator. Basic sources of data were the Texas Department of Human Resources' CANRIS reports and the U.S. Bureau of the Census population estimates. Validated sexual abuse consistently ranked third in physical abuse type and more than doubled between 1975 and 1977. Victims' mean age decreased each year and most were eleven years or over. Most sexual child abuse victims in Texas were of the Anglo ethnic group, living in their own home, and victimized by a parent. More than 85 per cent were female. Further research was recommended.

The main aim of this research was to identify a family support programme which could be used as a primary prevention strategy against child abuse as a first positive step within the family, the basic unit of society, towards reducing community violence. The central focus of this intervention was that it should be appropriate for use in a multi-ethnic South African context and implementable by community health nurses or related lay health personnel with minimal training. No such programme was identified. The researcher attempted to integrate the most appropriate and scientifically substantiated features of existing programmes and develop a unique South African programme. This programme was developed and tested in a participatory manner with multiethnic communities. Community health nurse facilitators were trained and evaluated and the developed programme was then implemented by these facilitators in several sites. The influences of the developed programme were extensively evaluated. Changes in attitudes, feelings and behaviour of the child, the mother, the maternal-child interaction and the family system were explored. A quasi-experimental design with pre and post testing of the experimental group and two control groups (control 1 received social support and control 2 receiving routine clinic nursing only) was utilized. Completed analysis has yielded some exciting and provocative results. There are clear differences in each of the groups attitudes to their children. On the Mother-Child Relationship Evaluation (MCRE) positive gains in maternal-child relationship were established for the experimental group and this was greater than that of both controls (t-test = 4.151 @ alpha = 0.0013; H=4.0734 @ alpha = 0.04 and F=7.031 @ alpha = 0.0004). On the Family Assessment Device (FAD) some limited changes were observed in the experimental group over the controls (F= 3 .33 @ alpha = 0.05). This is a positive outcome indicating that the family support programme evidenced significant changes in the participants relationships with their children and in their families and wider social life. Mothers and facilitators qualitative feedback reported positive interaction with young and older children and changed maternal and child attitude and behaviour. Despite the critical shortage of staff in community health settings facilitators continue to implement the programme voluntarily in their service settings. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

No description available.

Child abuse and neglect occur in epidemic numbers in the United States and around the world, resulting in major physical and mental health consequences for abused children in the present and future. A vast amount of information is available on the signs and symptoms and short- and long-term consequences of abuse. A limited number of instruments have been empirically developed to screen for child abuse, with most focused on physical abuse in the context of the emergency department, which have been found to be minimally effective and lacking rigor. This literature review focuses on physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect, occurring in one or multiple forms (polyabuse). A systematic, in-depth analysis of the literature was conducted. This literature review provides information for identifying children who have been abused and neglected but exposes the need for a comprehensive screening instrument or protocol that will capture all forms of child abuse and neglect. Screening needs to be succinct, user-friendly, and amenable for use with children at every point of care in the healthcare system.