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Treating the Child Abuser

  • Chapter
Children at Risk

Abstract

Scientific, empirically based approaches to the treatment of any problem depend upon the adequacy of theoretical models concerning the cause of the problem. As discussed in other chapters, for many years there was a paucity of sound empirical data that could be used either to account for the presence of child abusive patterns or to guide the development of effective interventions for child abusers. Prior to the mid-1970s, most models of child abuse were unifactorial in nature and attempted to predict the occurrence of child maltreatment in families from single etiological causes, such as parent psychopathology or sociological disadvantage (see reviews by Belsky, 1980; Burgess, 1979; Parke & Collmer, 1975). Treatment interventions based on such models also tended to be unifactorial, usually emphasizing treatment of a parent’s postulated underlying psychiatric disorder or the alleviation of socioeconomic distress. However, most of these therapeutic interventions were unevaluated or investigated only with uncontrolled and anecdotal outcome reports.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, 39216, USA

    Jeffrey A. Kelly

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  1. Jeffrey A. Kelly
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Robert T. Ammerman

  2. School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Michel Hersen

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© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Kelly, J.A. (1990). Treating the Child Abuser. In: Ammerman, R.T., Hersen, M. (eds) Children at Risk. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2088-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2088-4_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3214-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-2088-4

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