Physical disabilities as risk factors for child maltreatment: A selected review.

Abstract

The child maltreatment literature, which implies that children with physical disabilities may be at increased risk for abuse or neglect, is evaluated with reference to theoretical, definitional, and methodological concerns. Research issues are discussed and suggestions made for further delineating and defining the nature of any linkages that may exist.

The Appropriateness and Utility of a Child-Focused View of Jeopardy

“…Unfortunately, little research has focused on the provision of services for families with children who are developmentally delayed or handicapped (White et al, 1987;Zirpoli, 1986). Research efforts may be limited because prevention and treatment services that reflect a child-focused view of risk are not practical at a clinical level.…”

“…Resources might be allocated to fund research that examines the circumstances that place some children with handicaps in jeopardy for abuse and neglect and not others (White et al, 1987). This type of research would combine child-and family-focused views to increase our understanding of the multiple factors that contribute to maltreatment with young children who are handicapped or developmentally delayed.…”

“…Incidence has been reported for single and combined forms of handicapping conditions. White, Benedict, Wulff, and Kelley (1987) narrowly defined handicapping conditions as physical disabilities, while Glaser and Bentovim (1979) broadly defined handicapping conditions as mild, moderate, and severe physical anomalies and chronic illness.…”

Évaluation critique de la recherche sur l'étiologie de la violence envers les enfants

“…Gelles (1973Gelles ( , 1975 avait noté il y a quelques années que, sur 19 traits de personnalité qu'il avait recensés dans la littérature clinique sur les adultes abuseurs, seulement quatre avaient été cités par deux auteurs et plus. White et al (1987) ont montré, dans le cadre d'une percutante revue de littérature sur les déficiences physiques des enfants battus, l'ampleur des faiblesses méthodologiques et conceptuelles des recherches qui font de ces enfants avec déficiences un groupe à risque d'abus. Plotkin et al (1981), dans un article dévastateur sur la qualité méthodologique de ces recherches, montrent que sur les 270 articles scientifiques recensés identifiant de tels facteurs, moins de 25% reposent sur une cueillette de données originales.…”

Prematurity and neonatal comorbidities as risk factors for nonaccidental trauma

“…Such studies have suggested that disabled children, low-birth weight children and children affected by pregnancy or birth complications are at increased risk of NAT compared to children unaffected by such conditions [1,8,11,12]. The lack of literature in this field represents an important void as infant factors are likely to play a large role in the development of an infantcaregiver relationship.…”