Larger households, involving more children, are theorized as potential risk factors for child maltreatment—resource dilution theory. But qualitative evidence shows that in collective societies, like ...Ghana, more adult family members may act against neglect, through protective informal social control, which helps to reduce the frequency of neglect. Family members intervention in neglect situations will be more consistent and sustained due to the sanctioned collective responsibility to care for children in the community. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that having more adult family members in the household, who have the will and agency to intervene, will predict less chronic neglect. A three-stage probability proportional to size cluster sample of Ghana was collected from 1,100 primary caregiving mothers. One mother was interviewed in each household, and responses were limited to one focal child. When sample was restricted to those with chronic neglect (neglect > 1), 596 mothers remained in the data. The children have experienced 11 times neglect in the past year, and lived in households with average size of 6 members. Chronic neglect was measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Dose–response protective informal social control by family members was measured using the newly developed context-based scale for measuring protective informal social control of child neglect (ISC_CM2). Results from the random effects regressions models showed a negative relationship between dose–response protective informal social control and chronic neglect, and the interaction with household size was negative and significant. Ghanaian families should be sensitized to take advantage of the communal living practices, extended family systems and compound housing structures, as traditional mechanisms to promote collectivity and interventions in observed acts of neglect to protect children. The evidence contradicts the resource dilution theory’s conceptualization of large household as risks factors of neglect.
The Covid-19 pandemic upended the country, with enormous economic and social shifts. Given the increased contact from families living in virtual confinement coupled with massive economic disarray, ...the Covid-19 pandemic may have created the ideal conditions to witness a rise in children’s experience of abuse and neglect. Yet such a rise will be difficult to calculate given the drop in official mechanisms to track its incidence. The current investigation utilized two studies conducted early in the pandemic to evaluate maltreatment risk. In the first cross-sectional study, parents (n = 405) reported increased physical and verbal conflict and neglect which were associated with their perceived stress and loneliness. In the second study, parents (n = 106) enrolled in a longitudinal study reported increased parent-child conflict, which was associated with concurrent child abuse risk, with several links to employment loss, food insecurity, and loneliness; findings also demonstrated increases in abuse risk and psychological aggression relative to pre-pandemic levels. Findings are discussed in the context of a reactive welfare system rather than a pro-active public-health oriented approach to child maltreatment, connecting with families through multiple avenues. Innovative approaches will be needed to reach children faced with maltreatment to gauge its scope and impact in the pandemic’s aftermath.
Abstract Latent class (LCA) and latent profile (LPA) analysis represent methodological approaches to identify subgroups of maltreated individuals. Although research examining child abuse and neglect ...(CAN) profiles is still rare, the application of person-centered techniques to clarify CAN types co-occurrence has substantially increased in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to provide a summary and critical evaluation of the findings of LCA/LPA child maltreatment research to: ( a ) systemize the current understanding of patterns of maltreatment across populations and ( b ) elucidate interactive effects of CAN types on psychosocial functioning. A search in PsychInfo, Eric, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct, and Google Scholar was performed. Sixteen studies examining the co-occurrence between child physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and/or exposure to domestic violence were identified. A critical review of the studies revealed inconsistent findings as to the number of CAN classes, but most research uncovered a poly-victimized and a low abuse group. Further, multiple victimization was associated with most adverse internalizing and externalizing outcomes, especially when sexual abuse was present. Exposure to physical and emotional abuse was frequently reported to lead to behavioural problems. Based on the present study results, we provide a set of recommendations for surpassing the current methodological and conceptual limitations in future research.
Child neglect, whether intentional or unintentional on the part of caregivers, has serious and far-reaching negative consequences for children. Neglect is the most prevalent form of child ...maltreatment and has been associated with impaired cognitive development, changes in brain structure and nervous systems, behavioral and personality disorders and poor academic performance. However, the role of child neglect, and subtypes of neglect, in the development of adult violent behavior is not well understood. The “cycle of violence” hypothesis, which predicts that individuals exposed to child physical abuse are more likely to be physically violent in adulthood, is well supported by the literature. However, a growing number of studies suggests that child neglect may be equally predictive, or more predictive, of adult violent behavior than child physical abuse. The present review considers a range of studies that investigate aspects of this relationship, and identifies key patterns and trends that have emerged from these investigations. Methodological issues and limitations of the existing literature are also identified and new research directions suggested. This review also considers studies that support the possibility of protective factors against the development of adult violent behavior in victims of child neglect.
•Child neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment but is under-researched.•Neglect can hamper early cognitive, social, personality, education and life outcomes.•Neglect may be predictive of adult violent behavior but existing research is limited.•Protective factors for a neglected child may prevent their violent behavior as adults.•Research to mitigate links between subtypes of neglect and adult violence is needed.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19) has created an urgent need to identify child abuse and neglect (CAN) and efficiently allocate resources to improve the ...coordination of responses during a public health crisis.
To provide unique insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of CAN in relation to COVID-19 outcomes and identify areas where CAN has increased or decreased during the pandemic.
Children under 18 years old reported to the Los Angeles Police Department for CAN.
CAN incidents in the city of Los Angeles.
Negative binomial regression was used to explore associations between the implementation of social distancing protocols and reported CAN during COVID-19. Spatiotemporal analysis identified locations of emerging hot and cold spots during the pandemic. Associations between neighborhood structural factors (e.g., school absenteeism, poverty, unemployment, housing insecurity and birth assets) and hot and cold spot patterns were explored.
There was a statistically significant decline in reports of CAN during the COVID-19 pandemic but no significant trends following the implementation of social distancing measures (e.g. safer at home orders, school closures). Compared to consecutive cold spots, severe housing burden, the number of assets children have at birth, poverty, school absenteeism and labor force participation were significantly associated with new and intensifying hotspots of CAN during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our findings reinforce the utility of developing intervention strategies that minimize harm to children by targeting resources to specific challenges facing families enduring the COVID-19 experience.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children and young people experiencing child abuse and neglect. Child Protective Services (CPS) has played an important role in supporting children and families ...during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies to-date have evaluated the impact of the pandemic on CPS caseworkers and administrators in the United States.
We conducted interviews to explore CPS caseworkers' and administrators' experiences working and serving families during the pandemic.
Participants were U.S.-based CPS caseworkers and administrators. We conducted semi-structured virtual interviews with participants and used an inductive thematic analysis approach.
We conducted 37 interviews. Participants discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way they conduct investigations and provide services to families in the CPS system. Several services were adapted to occur virtually, providing challenges and unique opportunities. Participants also described the personal barriers they faced during the pandemic, including working remotely, experiencing burnout, and challenges obtaining personal protective equipment. Finally, participants shared creative solutions they engaged in to support children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, including expanding collaborations with other community-based organizations.
This study suggests the important role that CPS has played during the pandemic and challenges individual CPS workers felt, in terms of both experiencing burnout and difficulty obtaining personalized protective equipment. Inclusion of the CPS system in emergency preparedness planning for future pandemics or natural disasters will ensure continuation of these vital services.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread across the United States, resulting in significant changes in almost all aspects daily life. These changes place parents at increased risk for parental ...burnout. Parental burnout is a chronic condition resulting from high levels of parenting-related stress due to a mismatch between the demands of parenting and the resources available for parents to meet those demands. Research on parental burnout has suggested that parents who experience burnout are more likely to engage in child abuse and neglect, placing children at risk for detrimental short- and long-term outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to review the concept of parental burnout, discuss parental burnout in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, and focus specifically on the effects of child maltreatment. Implications for practitioners will be discussed.
The ‘Neglected’ Personal Neglect Caggiano, Pietro; Jehkonen, Mervi
Neuropsychology review,
12/2018, Volume:
28, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A review of patients with brain injury showing personal neglect is presented. The aim is to shed light on this aspect of neglect often unresearched or only indirectly investigated, and to discuss ...recent findings concerning the methods used to assess personal neglect, its neural correlates and its association with the more often explored aspect of extrapersonal neglect. The review was performed using PubMed and PsychInfo databases to search for papers published in the last 123 years (until January 2018). We reviewed 81 papers describing either single or group studies for a total of 2247 patients. The results of this review showed that various aspects of personal neglect are still controversial and outcomes potentially contradictory. Despite the data reported in the present review suggest that personal neglect is more frequently associated with lesions of the right hemisphere, the left hemisphere may also play an important role. Not surprisingly, personal neglect and extrapersonal neglect seem to co-occur. However double dissociations of these two forms of neglect have been reported, and they seem to dissociate both from a functional and an anatomical perspective. More recent interpretations of personal neglect suggest that it may result from a disrupted body representation. The development of reliable psychometric tools with shared diagnostic criteria is essential to identify different degrees of personal neglect for different body parts and to better refine personal neglect in comparison to extrapersonal neglect and disorders related to distortions of personal domain.
Rational choice deterrence theory suggests that caregiving behavior, which includes abusive and neglectful behavior, can be influenced or manipulated via informal social control strategies enacted by ...neighbors, family members and friends in the social network. The literature identifies two forms of informal social control that have the potential to influence maltreating caregiver behavior, protective vs punitive, with the latter having more contrasting evidence related to its influence on maltreating caregiving practices.
To examine the perceptions and meanings female caregivers associate with protective and punitive informal social control strategies that have been enacted against them.
17 female caregivers from Ghana, who self-reported their involvement in neglectful acts, were purposively selected to engage in river of life oral history narrative interviews. Narrative accounts from the caregivers were analyzed thematically using Taguette software package.
The findings showed that protective informal social control in child neglect are interpreted via values and norms of childcare that have been institutionalized in the community. Caregivers perceived protective informal social control to have impact on their level of respect/influence, authority in the family or community, and to elicit internal consequences: shame, guilty feelings and embarrassment. Punitive informal social control approaches were considered as misplaced interventions that had ulterior motives of satisfying the neighbors' hatred/dislike of the perpetrator and quest for revenge.
The findings suggest that the development of a fruitful theoretical framework to explain the effectiveness of informal social control should prioritize the social values and legitimate norms of the community. Implications for practice and theory development are discussed.
Approximately 80% of the over 3 million reports of child maltreatment each year are due to concerns of child neglect (United States Department of Health and Human Services USDHHS, 2015). The ...literature is growing, but relatively little is known about the predictors of the subtypes of neglect. The current study uses data from the Illinois Families Study to run fixed effects logistic regression models to estimate the predictors of two distinct forms of neglect: basic needs (failure to provide adequate food, clothing, or shelter) and supervisory (failure to provide adequate supervision). Within individual mothers, welfare receipt was associated with increased odds for basic needs neglect. Having worsening health conditions, gaining more child care concerns, and moving from a safe neighborhood to an unsafe neighborhood were positively associated with supervisory neglect. Our findings suggested that policies and practices that enhance economic stability over a longer period would likely decrease basic needs neglect, while policies and practices that aim to support families in terms of providing flexible childcare options for working mothers, improving socioeconomic status, and promoting health and wellness would be more beneficial for reduction of supervisory neglect.
•Basic needs neglect and supervisory neglect differ in their etiology.•TANF receipt increased the odds of basic needs neglect.•Poor health, more childcare concerns, and unsafe neighborhoods increased the odds of supervisory neglect.
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