NCJ Number
239379
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2012 Pages: 23-31
Date Published
January 2012
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined the psychological profile of abusive parents.
Abstract
The objective of this study was to provide a psychological profile of parents who have been formally accused of child maltreatment. A clinical group of 16 parents accused of physical abuse and 22 parents accused of neglect were compared with 18 parents from a control group. The MCMI-III was administered individually for each parent. Both groups of maltreatment showed significant differences on different scales of the MCMI-III. No difference was seen between the parents of both groups of child maltreatment. Many parents of both child maltreatment groups reported at least one form of abuse during their childhood, suggesting that a childhood marked by abuse or neglect on the part of a parent could result in personality disorders and that these disorders may have something to do with the intergenerational transmission of abuse. (Published Abstract)