Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem that affects millions every year across the U.S., including families with young children. Children exposed to IPV can suffer consequences such as negative developmental and psychological outcomes and sometimes physical harm. Previous research has found an association between IPV victimization and risk of child maltreatment. In addition to further examining the relation between IPV and child maltreatment risk, this study tested maternal depression and parental stress as mediators and social support as a moderator in the IPV-child maltreatment risk relation. The research was conducted using data from a study of low-income, first-time mothers who were enrolled in a home visitation program. Results show that IPV physical and psychological victimization is significantly associated with child maltreatment risk, and this relation is mediated by maternal depression. These findings provide valuable information for those in the child welfare field, IPV victim advocacy, and home visitation services. A multi-system response should be employed to ensure that services for victims are comprehensive and address all areas of need. This approach is necessary in order to improve outcomes for IPV victims as well as their children.

This study investigated the relationship between experiences of childhood maltreatment, family functioning, problem-solving style, and criminal offending. Participants (N = 120) were all male and classified as violent (V), non-violent (NV), or non-offenders (NO) based on their criminal histories. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS), Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) were administered to all participants. Results suggest that V's reported significantly more maltreatment compared to NO's. V's came from the least healthy families while NO's came from the healthiest families. Finally, V's were more likely to use an impulsive approach and less likely to use a rational approach to solving problems than NO's. Experiences of physical neglect discriminated the groups. This study also discovered previously ignored correlations between these variables within each of the three groups and implications of these new findings are discussed.

Introduction: Child maltreatment continues to be a significant public health concern in civilian and military communities alike. Child maltreatment has profound short and long term negative effects on children and families and is tremendously costly to society. There are several correlates of child maltreatment unique to the military family: deployment of the active duty service member and living in an overseas duty locations.Rationale: The high rate of deployments within the Marine Corps military community in Japan makes these children particularly vulnerable to child maltreatment. Many forms of child maltreatment are most significant in school aged children, and nearly all maltreated children display recognizable signs and symptoms including physical, emotional, and behavioral characteristics, but also academic difficulties which can be best detected by the educator or other school personnel. Thus, the importance of improving school personnel's knowledge regarding the recognition and response of child maltreatment is especially important. Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) teachers, school professionals, and staff with direct student contact spend a significant amount of time with military children and are in a prime position to recognize and respond to at-risk and maltreated children.Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this study was to pilot a web-based child maltreatment tutorial for DoDDS teachers, school professionals and support staff with direct student contact within the Marine Corps community in Japan. The goal was to determine whether these professionals would gain information about child maltreatment in general and specific to the military families in Japan.Methods: Thirty-three eligible school personnel within the DoDDS school district in Japan participated in the study. A pre-test /post-test design was used to determine the effectiveness of the tutorial in increasing participant knowledge of risk factors, signs and symptoms, and reporting procedures for child maltreatment.Results: Findings indicated that participants' post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores (p <0.001). The majority of participants indicated that they liked the format and self-paced nature of the tutorial.Conclusions: This exploratory study demonstrated the effectiveness of a web-based tutorial to disseminate information about child maltreatment in military families.

The recognition of psychological maltreatment as a distinct form of child maltreatment worthy of independent investigation occurred only as recently as the late 1970s. Today, there is a growing consensus among professionals that not only is psychological maltreatment far more prevalent than was once realized, but also that it lies at the core of all major forms of abuse and neglect. Furthermore, its impact has been judged by some to be more damaging than the effects of either physical or sexual abuse. The current study examined individuals who reported having experienced childhood psychological maltreatment in comparison to a control group who reported not having experienced any form of childhood maltreatment. The attachment styles of the maltreated and non-maltreated groups were compared with respect to a two-dimensional model of attachment. It was hypothesized that maltreated individuals would have less secure adult attachment relationships than their non-maltreated counterparts. Results indicated that individuals who reported childhood psychological maltreatment were indeed more likely than their non-maltreated counterparts to have developed a self-reported insecure attachment style in their adult relationships, characterized by higher levels of both attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. A secondary goal of the study was to determine whether self-reports of the two attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) were associated with theoretically coherent constellations of Rorschach projective responses. No evidence of associations between the projective responses and the self-report measure of these attachment dimensions was found in either the maltreated or the non-maltreated group, suggesting the need for further research in this area.

The recognition of psychological maltreatment as a distinct form of child maltreatment worthy of independent investigation occurred only as recently as the late 1970s. Today, there is a growing consensus among professionals that not only is psychological maltreatment far more prevalent than was once realized, but also that it lies at the core of all major forms of abuse and neglect. Furthermore, its impact has been judged by some to be more damaging than the effects of either physical or sexual abuse. The current study examined individuals who reported having experienced childhood psychological maltreatment in comparison to a control group who reported not having experienced any form of childhood maltreatment. The attachment styles of the maltreated and non-maltreated groups were compared with respect to a two-dimensional model of attachment. It was hypothesized that maltreated individuals would have less secure adult attachment relationships than their non-maltreated counterparts. Results indicated that individuals who reported childhood psychological maltreatment were indeed more likely than their non-maltreated counterparts to have developed a self-reported insecure attachment style in their adult relationships, characterized by higher levels of both attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. A secondary goal of the study was to determine whether self-reports of the two attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) were associated with theoretically coherent constellations of Rorschach projective responses. No evidence of associations between the projective responses and the self-report measure of these attachment dimensions was found in either the maltreated or the non-maltreated group, suggesting the need for further research in this area.

This thesis examines risk as it applies to children and youth. Specifically, this thesis examines the way that risk enables the governance of child and youth populations. The central argument of this thesis will be that risk creates the maltreated child as a potential delinquent. There is a vast body of literature which has examined a perceived relationship between child maltreatment and juvenile offending. On this basis, a high level of risk has been ascribed to the maltreated child in terms of their potential to engage in criminal and antisocial behaviour. This argument is positioned as a claim of truth, with the truth being that maltreated children are more likely to engage in juvenile delinquency than nonmaltreated children. It is this concept and this truth claim which forms the catalyst for the investigation in this thesis. The underlying assumptions of this thesis are derived from a governmental framework, based on the work of Foucault (1991). This states that the mentality of government comprises of three main factors, political rationalities, governmental programmes and technologies of government (Rose and Miller, 1992). This thesis argues that positivism can be understood as a political rationality, that legislation can be viewed as a governmental programme and that statistics can be conceptualised as a technology of government. Overall, the results of these three analyses combine to demonstrate the powerful ways in which risk is used to position the maltreated child as a potential delinquent. Consequently, it is established that risk is crucial to the ways in which children and youth find themselves targets of governance.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood maltreatment and juvenile homicide offending. Specifically, this study compared a sample of maltreated male juvenile homicide offenders (N = 51) with non-maltreated male juvenile homicide offenders (N = 364) among the following areas: familial dysfunction and disorganization, mental health issues, academic functioning, prior delinquency, substance abuse and homicide-related crime characteristics. Data was obtained from the following aggregate sources: Supervision Risk Classification Instrument (SRCI), the State Attorney's Recommendation form (SAR), the Predisposition Report (PR), and the Massachusetts Juveniles Screening Instrument 2 (MAYSI-2). Chi square and t-tests were then utilized to compare the two groups and preform analyses. Maltreated male juvenile homicide offenders significantly differed from non-maltreated male juvenile homicide offenders in terms of familial dysfunction and disorganization, academic functioning, prior delinquency and homicide-related crime characteristics. As a result of these significant differences, tailored prevention and treatment efforts were discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.W. Social Work 2011

Child maltreatment is a costly social problem that carries with it significant risk of poor outcomes across the lifespan. There is a large body of research on risk and protective factors associated with child maltreatment. However, there is a significant gap in the literature on family functioning after children are reunified with their families. The current study proposed a conceptual model of family functioning based on a socioecological perspective. Hypotheses related to the effects of parenting on well-being were tested using a series of structural equation models. Results indicated modest support for the directional effects of improved parenting on parental well-being and the importance of social support for these families. Overall, this study points to the necessity of continued interaction with families after reunification and the importance of a multi-dimensional perspective. Many mothers continued to struggle with substance use months after reunification, indicating the need for long-term interventions and continued assessment of family well-being. The current study provides data to support changes in public policy and practice which would emphasize continuing long-term service provision. In particular, these families are likely to benefit most from empirically-supported parent training and the development of social support skill-building.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-09-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:33:32Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 costa_srs_me_prud.pdf: 641816 bytes, checksum: 7c4a213aea34a9daced87fde0fe9daca (MD5) / A presente Dissertação de Mestrado se insere na Linha de Pesquisa “Processos Formativos, Diferença e Valores, que tem como preocupação central desenvolver conhecimentos sobre os saberes, práticas e representações presentes no interior das relações escolares, levando em conta aspectos relativos à classe social, raça, etnia, sexualidade, geração e gênero, de forma articulada com a formação de profissionais da educação, e baseada em uma perspectiva que leve em conta as demandas contemporâneas. A pesquisa tem como objeto o estudo das concepções e práticas de treze profissionais da área de educação, em específico professores, diretores e orientadores educacionais da rede pública municipal de ensino do município de Campo Grande/MS, sobre os maus-tratos contra crianças. Considera-se que existem poucas investigações sobre os conhecimentos dos educadores acerca das diversas violações de direito às quais possam estar expostos alunos e alunas que freqüentam as instituições educacionais. A compreensão das representações dos profissionais de educação e das dificuldades que sentem quanto à identificação e formas de encaminhamento e intervenção nos casos de maus-tratos poderá nortear futuras políticas de formação inicial e contínua para eles formuladas. Portanto, objetivou-se compreender as concepções e práticas desses profissionais, que atuam nas séries iniciais (1ª à 5ª série) do ensino fundamental, sobre os maus-tratos contra crianças. Realizouse uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre a temática dos maus-tratos cometidos contra crianças, os indicadores e conseqüências no desenvolvimento da criança vitimizada, as formas de enfrentamento desse fenômeno na área educacional e a análise da legislação disponível, referente aos direitos das crianças. Do ponto de vista... / This research is tied to the research line Formative processes, Difference and Values”, that has as main concern the development of knowledge about practices and representations presented in the relationships established among peers and professionals inside school, taking into account aspects of social class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and generation, so combined with the training of school professionals and based on a perspective that recognize contemporary demands. The research focus on the knowledge and attitudes of thirteen school professionals, in particular teachers, directors and supervisors of educational network of municipal public education of the municipality of Campo Grande / MS, about maltreatment against children. It is considered that there is little research on the knowledge of educators about the various violations of children`s rights to which can be exposed students who attend the educational institutions. The understanding of school professional`s representations and their difficulties on identify, referral and intervene in cases of maltreatment can guide future policies for initial and continuing training offered for them. Therefore, the aim of this research is to understand the concepts and attitudes of school professionals, who work on the first grades (1st to 5th grade) of basic education, concerning the maltreatment against children. It was accomplished a literature review on the subject of maltreatment committed against children, indicators and consequences in the development of the child victim, ways of confronting this phenomenon in educational institutions and analysis of available legislation concerning children`s rights. A qualitative approach grounded the field research, through the use of semi-structures interviews with the 13 school professionals, who answered some questions based on literature review and the research purpose... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

abstract: Much of the current literature regarding the well being of children of incarcerated parents has focused largely on the trauma that results from losing a parent to incarceration. Little research has been dedicated to examining the pre-existing trauma and negative life experiences these children are exposed to prior to parental incarceration. Using cross-sectional data on children (N = 1,221) from a representative study of Arizona Department of Corrections inmates, the present study examines the relationships among children who have contact with Child Protective Services (CPS) prior to parental incarceration and: (1) parental substance abuse, (2) exposure to violence and (3) parental mental illness. Nearly a quarter of all children whose inmate parents were interviewed were contacted by CPS before experiencing parental incarceration. Children whose inmate parents reported being unemployed or less involved in the lives of their children and children who were reportedly exposed to violence were significantly more likely to have been contacted by CPS prior to experiencing parental incarceration as were younger children. The children of incarcerated mothers were more likely to have been contacted by CPS than were the children of incarcerated fathers. This effect remained even after controlling for additional parent, child and family risk factors for CPS contact such as prior history of incarceration and race. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2014