Abstract
The thought of a woman abusing a child is a terrible one. It contradicts conventional concepts of woman as mother, providing for and protecting her young. Primitive religions, however, recognized a dual role for women by coupling the image of the Great Mother with that of the Destroyer. In these religions goddesses were worshipped cautiously, surrounded by great mystery and reverence, because of their powers over life and death.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Altemeier, W. A., O’Conner, S., Vietze, P. M., & Sandier, H. M. (1982). Antecedents of a child abuse. Journal of Pediatrics, 100, 823–829.
Bishop, F. J. (1978). The abusing parents: Perceptions, memories and pathological identification as precipitants in the attack. In E. J. Anthony, C. Koupernik, & C. Chiland (Eds.), The child in his family: Vulnerable children. New York: Wiley.
Blumberg, M. L. (1980). The abusing mother: Criminal, psychopath or victim of circumstances. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 34, 351–362.
Bolton, F. J., Jr., Laner, R. H., & Kane, S. P. (1980). Child maltreatment risk among adolescent mothers. A study of reported cases. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 50, 489–504.
Carmen, E. (1982). Wife abuse: Culture as destiny. In M. T. Notman & C. C. Nadelson (Eds.), Development and Stresses, Vol. 3. New York: Plenum Press.
Child abuse in Georgia 1975–1977. (1979). Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia, 68, 393–394.
Coppolillo, H. (1978). A conceptual model for study of some abusing parents. In E. J. Anthony, C. Koupernik, and C. Chiland (Eds.), Vulnerability and parenthood. The child and his family Vol. 4, (pp. 231–238). New York: Wiley.
Dickens, C. (1894). Little Dorrit (p. 111). Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1981). Attachment and early maltreatment. Child Development, 52, 44–52.
Elmer, E. A. (1960). Abused young children seen in hospitals. Social Work, 5, 98–100.
Elmer, E. A. (1977). Follow-up study of traumatized children. Pediatrics, 59, 273–279.
Friedrich, W. N., & Boriskin, J. A. (1976). The role of the child in abuse: A review of the literature. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 46, 580–590.
Friedrich, W. M., & Wheeler, K. K. (1982). The abusing parent revisited: A decade of psychological research. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170, 577–587.
Gaines, R., Sandgrund, A., Green, A. H., & Power, E. (1978). Etiological factors in child maltreatment: A multivariate study of abusing, neglecting and normal mothers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87(5), 531–540.
Galdston, R. (1965). Observations on children who have been physically abused and their parents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 440–443.
Galdston, R. (1981). The domestic dimensions of violence: Child abuse. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 36, 391–414.
Gelles, R. J. (1978). Violence toward children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 580–592.
Gil, D. (1968). Incidence of child abuse and demographic characteristics of persons involved. In R. Helfer & C. Kempe (Eds.), The battered child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Grant, M. C. (1962). Myths of the Greeks and Romans (p. 278). Cleveland and New York: World.
Green, A. H. (1983). Child abuse: Dimensions of psychological trauma in abused children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22, 231–237.
Green, A. H., Gaines, R. W., & Sandgrund, A. (1974). Child abuse: Pathological syndrome of family interaction. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 882–886.
Green, A. H., Gaines, R. W., Sandgrund, A., & Haberfield, H. (1974, May). Psychological sequelae of child abuse and neglect. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Detroit.
Green, A. H., Liang, V., Gaines, R., & Sultan, S. (1980). Psychopathological assessment of child abusing. Neglecting and normal mothers. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 168, 356–360.
Herrenkohl, E. C., & Herrenkohl, R. C. (1979). A comparison of abused children and their non-abused siblings. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 18, 260–269.
Kaplan, S. J., Pelcovitz, D., & Salzinger, S. (1983). Psychopathology of parents of abused and neglected children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22, 238–244.
Kempe, C., & Helfer, R. E. (Eds.). (1972). Helping the battered child and his family. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Kinard, E. M., & Klerman, L. V. (1980). Teenage parenting and child abuse: Are they related. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 50, 481–488.
Lynch, M. A., & Roberts, J. (1977). Predicting child abuse: Signs of bonding failure in the maternity hospital. British Medical Journal, 1(6061), 624–626.
Martin, H. P., Beezley, P., Conway, E. F., & Kempe, C. H. (1974). The development of abused children: A review of the literature and physical, neurologic, and intellectual findings. Advances in Pediatrics, 21, 25–73.
Milowe, I. D., & Lourie, R. S. (1964). The child’s role in the battered child syndrome. Journal of Pediatrics, 65, 1075–1081.
Mitchell, R. G. (1975). The incidence and nature of child abuse. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 17(5), 641–646.
Morris, M., & Gould, R. (1963). A necessary concept in dealing with the “battered child syndrome.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 33, 298–299.
Murphy, I. F., Jenkins, J., Newcomb, R. G., & Sibert, J. R. (1981). Objective birth data and the prediction of child abuse. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 56, 295–297.
Nadelson, C. C., Notman, M. T., Miller, J. B., & Zilbach, J. (1982). Aggression in women: Conceptual issues and clinical implications. In M. T. Notman & C. C. Nadelson (Eds.), Aggression, adaptations, and psychotherapy. New York: Plenum Press.
Newberger, E. G., Newberger, C. M., & Hampton, R. H. (1983). Child abuse: The current theory base and future research needs. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22, 262–268.
Notman, M. T. (1982). Feminine development: Changes in psychoanalytic theory. In M. T. Notman & C. C. Nadelson (Eds.), Concepts of femininity and the life cycle. New York: Plenum Press.
Ory, M. G., & Earp, J. A. (1981). Child maltreatment and the use of social services. Public Health Report, 96, 238–245.
Ounsted, C., Gordon, J. C., & Milligan, B. (1982). Fourth goal of perinatal medicine. British Medical Journal, 284, 879–885.
Ounsted, C., Oppenheimer, R., & Lindsay, J. (1974). Aspects of bonding failure: The psychological and psychotherapeutic treatment of families of battered children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 16, 447–456.
Pascoe, J. M., Hebbert, V., Pearl, T. M., & Loda, F. (1981). Violence in North Carolina families referred to a child protection team. North Carolina Medical Journal, 42, 35–37.
Passman, R. H., & Mulhern, R. K. (1977). Maternal punitiveness as affected by situational stress. An experimental analogue of child abuse. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86, 565–569.
Pelton, L. (1978). Child abuse and neglect: The myth of classlessness. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 608–617.
Roberts, J., Lynch, M. A., & Golding, J. (1980). Postneonatal mortality in children from abusing families. British Journal of Medicine, 281(6233), 102–104.
Rosen, B., & Stein, M. T. (1980). Women who abuse their children: Implications for pediatric practice. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 134, 947–950.
Runyan, D. K., Gould, C. L., Trost, D. L., & Loda, F. A. (1981). Determinants of foster care placement for the maltreated child. American Journal of Public Health, 71, 706–711.
Schmitt, B. D., & Kempe, C. H. (1979). Neglect and abuse of children. In V. C. Vaughn, R. J. Mckay, & R. E. Behrman (Eds.), Nelson’s textbook of pediatrics (11th ed., p. 120). Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.
Sharkey, C. T. (1980). Sense of personal worth, self-esteem and anomia of child abusing mothers and control. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36, 817–820.
Shearman, J. K., Evans, C. E., Boyle, M. H., Cuddy, L. J., & Norman, G. R. (1983). Maternal and infant characteristics in abuse: A case control study. Journal of Family Practice, 16, 289–293.
Silver, L. B., Dublin, C. G., & Lourie, R. S. (1969). Does violence breed violence. Contributions from a study of the child abuse syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 404–407.
Smith, S. M., & Hanson, R. (1974). 134 battered children: A medial and psychological study. British Medical Journal, 3, 666–670.
Spinetta, J. J. (1978). Parental personality factors in child abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 1409–1414.
Spinetta, J. J., & Rigler, D. (1972). The child abusing parent: A psychological review. Psychological Bulletin, 77, 296–304.
Steele, B. F., & Pollack, C. (1968). A psychiatric study of parents who abuse infants and small children. In R. E. Helfer & C. H. Kempe (Eds.), The battered child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Twentyman, C. T., & Plotkin, R. C. (1982). Unrealistic expectations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 497–503.
Vesterdal, J. (1979). Psychological mechanisms in child-abusing parents. Pediatrician, 8, 145–151.
Wasserman, G. A., Green, A., & Allen, R. (1983). Good beyond abuse: Maladaptive patterns of interaction in abusing mother-infant pairs. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22, 245–252.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wilking, V.N. (1990). Mothers Who Abuse Their Children. In: Spurlock, J., Robinowitz, C.B. (eds) Women’s Progress. Women in Context. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0855-1_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0855-1_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0857-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0855-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive