NCJ Number
58630
Date Published
1978
Length
15 pages
Annotation
THE BIRMINGHAM (ENGLAND) CHILD ABUSE STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILD ABUSE BY SUBJECTING DATA ON ABUSIVE AND CONTROL FAMILIES TO A MATRIX OF CHILD ABUSE FEATURES.
Abstract
THE MATRIX REPRESENTED A COMBINATION OF 67 FEATURES OF CHILD ABUSE THAT HAD BEEN STUDIES (ALTHOUGH STUDIES VARIED IN LENGTH AND RELIABILITY) OR HAD BEEN OBSERVED BY PROFESSIONALS DEALING WITH ABUSE. THE INDEX FAMILIES PREVIOUSLY HAD BEEN REPORTED AS ABUSIVE TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND WERE OF PREDOMINANTLY LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. VARIABLES REGARDING FAMILY INTERRELATIONSHIPS, MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTION, FAMILY SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS, CHILDREARING PRACTICES, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHILD, WHICH BEST DESCRIBED THE INDEX AND CONTROL FAMILIES, WERE SUBJECTED TO MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS AND CORRELATED ON THE MATRIX. ANALYSIS OF DATA INDICATED THAT MOTHERS WHO RELATED POORLY TO THEIR PARENTS AND SIBLINGS HAD RELATED POORLY TO THEM IN THEIR CHILDHOOD, MOTHERS WHO COULD NOT DISCUSS CHILDREARING WITH THEIR PARTNERS TENDED TO BE THOSE WHO MADE FAMILY DECISIONS, AND MOTHERS WHO SAID THEIR CHILDREN PREVENTED THEM FROM WORKING BY CRYING OR CLINGING WERE THOSE WHO WITHHELD LOVE AS A MEANS OF PUNISHMENT. A LARGE CLUSTER OF VARIABLES HINGED ON THE LINK BETWEEN A MOTHER'S UNMARRIED STATUS AND THE ABSENCE OF THE CHILD'S NATURAL FATHER. ASSOCIATED WITH THE FORMER WERE THE ILLEGITIMACY OF THE BATTERED CHILD, THE FIRST CHILD HAVING BEEN CONCEIVED PREMARITALLY, AND THE LACK OF BASIC AMENITIES IN THE HOME. ABANDONED MOTHERS AND MOTHERS WHO RECEIVED LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR PARTNERS IN CHILDREARING WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE ABUSIVE. A SMALLER CLUSTER OF VARIABLES RELATED TO THE MOTHER'S PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE, BUT DREW IN HER RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHILD AND TO OUTSIDERS, AND A FEW VARIABLES HINGED ON THE MOTHER'S LACK OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO BE FREE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CHILD. STUDY VALIDITY AND IMPLICATIONS ARE DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (KCP)